Another printer goes to the wall

[bigdave]

Got word from a friend yesterday that the print firm he works for in Stafford is ceasing trading as of next week. It's a real shame as many of the staff have been with the company for nearly 30 years.

[Boss Hog]

Yeah loads are struggling mate, one of the oldest (I think the oldest) printing company in the UK (by me) went down the toilet last year.

[Minuteman Press]

I have viewed the assets of quite a number and talked to former staff / directors. Always seems to be over optimistic forecasting, overspend on finance, absence of marketing, lack of flexibility to trends, poorly costed projects and complacency.

I never want to be there - we question most that we do every day.

[squeezee]

We've had a few go down and be bought out by the original owner, no debts - the supplier pays .

[Katedesign]

I have viewed the assets of quite a number and talked to former staff / directors. Always seems to be over optimistic forecasting, overspend on finance, absence of marketing, lack of flexibility to trends, poorly costed projects and complacency.

I never want to be there - we question most that we do every day.

The company I was a director of went 'down' last year. We were unable to cut many of our costs; one of our sales team had serious family problems (his wife was dying from cancer) and although he worked he wasn't doing enough; the other had other problems and didn't pull his weight; the staff didn't want to take a pay-cut. We certainly weren't complacent; we marketed; we were never cheap. We had invested (OK too much!) in 2005 and had listened to our new partner (who promised much - delivered little) and as a result over-invested.

That coupled with the downturn and a couple of big clients changing/reducing their print requirements did mean that we had to go bust. Not a good experience. But we were careful not to let down smaller suppliers.

It is sad. Our two sales guys were able to get jobs, two of us were 'picked up' by the same company (and they made us redundant 9 months later); of the two printers - one has a job (hopefully still as he was on a three month trial) the other is still unemployed. Another member of staff works as a delivery driver, another as an estimator. We had a good business.

And speaking to a friend still with a good print business recently he said that he was certain that few, if any, printers were making money. Perhaps it's why I bang on about supporting local businesses and not going out of the country. I have now discovered that we were probably the only people locally who did top quality black and white digital work - can't find anyone to replace us!!

[bigdave]

.......And speaking to a friend still with a good print business recently he said that he was certain that few, if any, printers were making money....

It's for this reason that we've decided to stop promoting Bleed Ink. The business itself will still exisit but we're no longer actively seeking work. We seem to be spending a fortune in advertising and man hours quoting and chasing leads but the truth is people dont want to spend what little budget they have, on high end design and print. Even expanding into web hasn't worked as everyone seems to know someone who's brother's friend's cat's mother's owner's grandma will do it for £100 and thats not a realistic budget for us.

Instead we're going to continue to service the few clients we have whilst either working for the publishing company or seeking employment elsewhere. If new clients come looking for us then great we'll take them on but for the forseeable future Bleed Ink is by request only.

[JohnRoss]

My sympathies for struggling printers everywhere, but I believe this is a 'global' thing, in at least two senses of the word. For one thing, why would anyone use a local printer for, e.g., a book run, when they can get the same thing done with the same quality for x% less in China? For another, if a business only lives off what its workers do, it's essentially parasitical and, sooner or later, doomed - companies must earn their money, add value, that's what economics is all about. Years ago, my wife's graphic design company had six employees, the most up-to-date technology, etc. It closed three years ago, the technology having come down in price or having become unnecessary - in other words, the company had ceased to add value to what its workers did. So my wife still works for the same publishers' but freelance, which is better for her and suits the clients fine - companies of that kind had simply become outdated. The same sort of thing is happening in any number of sectors.

[Katedesign]

But there are too many stories about the horrors of using an internet printer (especially abroad). Printers do add value as do graphic designers. Ask an 'internet printer' for something out of their usual spec and their price goes up to what your local printer might charge. You can go and ask advice, see different papers and boards, inspect the print on the press (if you really want to) etc. Your local printer will know print finishers, book-binders and other professionals who you - as either a designer or a customer- won't know.
I understand that things change - but if people care about quality and perhaps being slightly different to the rest of the crowd they should value their local printer/digital printer. As a nation we are already losing jobs abroad in vast numbers and there are fewer job opportunities here. We should be supporting UK businesses.

[JohnRoss]

I repeat, I am sorry about the financial struggles of printers', esp. small firms, but I am not surprised by them.

But there are too many stories about the horrors of using an internet printer (especially abroad).

I wasn't really thinking of Internet businesses, I meant ordinary printing firms in China or Korea or wherever. I have a book project up my sleeve, so I've been looking around a bit at this, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have printing done in Europe (much further west than Romania, at least), Asia's much cheaper, for the moment. I'm not soft in the head, though, I wouldn't dream of taking the claims on a website on trust, either.

Printers do add value as do graphic designers.

I'm not arguing with that, they're tradesmen with skills for which I have the utmost respect (even if graphic designers prefer to be considered 'professionals', my wife was a typesetter when she started out). I'm saying printers' firms as businesses don't add the same value that they used to, the companies, not the workers. For example, not long ago, large-format printers used to cost five or six-figure sums, and plotters were simply astronomical in price, but now you can buy a perfectly good, new A2 (approx. poster-sized) printer for under a thou, so anyone can do it, it doesn't need financial muscle or a credit line, or a business plan or even an accountant. A small architect's studio, for example, would have outsourced most of its print jobs ten years ago, probably doesn't need to now and if it still does, does it for a quarter of the price, at a guess.

As a nation we are already losing jobs abroad in vast numbers and there are fewer job opportunities here. We should be supporting UK businesses.

I'm going to lose popularity points here, but this is a very thin argument, sorry, and I think you'd be hard-pushed to find a single respected economist in agreement. For one thing, I don't see why tomato producers in Norfolk are any more deserving of my hard-earned cash than those in Morocco, on the contrary. For another, economics doesn't work like that - the business of a business is to make money for its shareholders, and if a UK company needed software, say, it would be negligent if it didn't at least consider buying it in India. If you want a strong UK economy, you are not doing it any favours by artificially supporting its weak points, not even for all the right reasons. If you want to support the UK economy, I dunno: buy things Brits are good at, like pop music or beer. And do, please, continue to use your local printer's for all the advantages it offers you, like personal service and prompt deliveries, at least until your sums make you decide otherwise.

[bigdave]

For one thing, I don't see why tomato producers in Norfolk are any more deserving of my hard-earned cash than those in Morocco, on the contrary. For another, economics doesn't work like that - the business of a business is to make money for its shareholders, and if a UK company needed software, say, it would be negligent if it didn't at least consider buying it in India. If you want a strong UK economy, you are not doing it any favours by artificially supporting its weak points, not even for all the right reasons. If you want to support the UK economy, I dunno: buy things Brits are good at, like pop music or beer.

Firstly you're confusing cheap with better. Just because a bottle of Lambrini costs less than a bottle of Moet, it doesn't mean you're getting good value.

Secondly, What if something goes wrong with whatever it is you've bought from India or it arrives and the pages are upside down and back to front? You don't speak which ever one of the 100 odd languages so you cant tell them its wrong. They don't speak or read English so how we're they to know its wrong? On top of this, most of these foreign print shops don't use sustainable sources for their stock and whilst that doesn't bother you now, it probably will do when they've cut all the trees down.

If everybody decided to buy everything abroad, all UK print firms and industries would go out of business. What happens when the Indians or the Chinese decide they're going to quadruple their pricing because there's no competition? At the same time in an attempt to regain lost revenue, the government adopts an Australian style system of import tax effectively doubling the cost of everything imported into the country. You've f**ked the country but its ok because we've got Carling and Jedward!