Adapting to the downturn has led to a rebrand and a radical strategic rethink

White horses, carved out of chalk-laden hillsides, are symbols of longevity in the counties around Whpnewbury’s home town of Newbury, so the decision to remove the words ‘white’ and ‘horse’ from the company’s name represents a radical departure from the company’s established roots. Indeed, change has been a key part of the general commercial printer’s experience over the past few months.

Formerly branded the White Horse Press, Whpnewbury has re-examined its markets and come to the conclusion that its future success will be based, in part at least, on extensive digital capabilities and the direct mail sector.

The firm has just installed a refurbished six-colour HP Indigo 5000 as part of a £750,000 investment, which also includes a used four-colour B1 Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 102 press. It now offers a complete service, incorporating web-to-print, digital and litho up to B1.

That spend was followed by the rebranding of the company to Whpnewbury. Additionally, managing director Peter Arnel is now the sole owner of the company after joint managing director Steven Greener left to start a new life in America.

According to Arnel, the economic downturn was the driver  behind the strategic rethink and the move into digital. In the past, the company has deliberately operated in a narrow market sector; since Arnel and Greener bought the company in 2001, Whpnewbury has predominantly produced short-run, high-quality promotional materials, largely for the property brochure market.

Digital future
With the start of the recession, the market for high-end property brochures all but disappeared. Demand has fallen substantially and Arnel wonders whether it will ever return. “We may end up printing teasers for the web,” he says. “However, that’s where digital will lead the way. I am certain that the digital and web markets are making an impact. It’s pretty obvious that we need to move into direct mail.”
Since 2001, the company’s turnover has soared from

£1.6m to £6m. All of the work is printed stochastic and Whpnewbury now proofs and prints to ISO 12647-2. Around 600-800 jobs are produced every month and the company produces around 50-80 colour makereadies every day. It also has certifications that include ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSA 18001, PEFC and FSC.

With the Heidelberg and Indigo already installed, the company is now going to the market with its enlarged offering. Arnel is currently working on building the company’s digital customer base, although many of its existing customers already operate in the direct mail sector and the firm is also starting to directly engage with end-user commercial clients through its commercial service managers.

Logical logistics
Arnel says his clients have started to question the need to print in large quantities – which consume warehouse and distribution capacity – only to have much of the work thrown away unused. “I am sure this will eventually drive them to on-demand printing, and while it will not all be personalised, it will all need to be printed very quickly and distributed from a central point of production,” he says.

In the personalisation arena, Arnel says there is a lot of work available. “Printing companies of our size may have to go down the route of marketing instead of design. With the pharmaceutical and property markets, they both obviously have many opportunities for digital areas and already make up part of our existing client base,” he adds. “And then additionally, there’s the move into mailing which will bring us additional fulfilment. That’s the fresh message that we want to get out into the marketplace.”

Arnel’s previous experience includes being proprietor of Acorn Press in Swindon during the 1990s. As a result, he says he knows from first-hand experience that recessions can be very unpredictable in their influence on print businesses: when the 1991 recession began, Acorn Press was a B3 stationery printer; when it ended, the firm was a B1 four-colour operation. “I’m sure that for many, this recession will be similar,” he says.

For a company that has already experienced so much change at the start of a recession, 2009 looks set to be a year of opportunity for the firm.