No 'I' in team, but what of consortium?

---

Last week's announcement about the creation of POP European, a consortium of point-of-purchase (POP) and outdoor display printers that provides brands with a pan-European supplier, seems to tick all of the boxes.

The consortium is made up of four printers - UK-based Augustus Martin, Print & Display of Belgium, Kürten & Lechner of Germany and Litorama of Italy.

As a group, the consortium has more buying power and can punch above each company's individual weight weight by tendering for larger contracts and harnessing the economies of scale of a group greater than the sum of its parts. The group also aims to maintain a degree of independence and offer a local service to a global audience.

Practical considerations
However, the question is whether it is practical for any business to become part of a consortium, and whether it only works for those targeting a truly pan-European operation. Daniel Pattison, Augustus Martin group sales director, says a consortium such as POP European will benefit retailers and brands that have POS, POP and outdoor advertising across Europe. "If customers aren't spending money internationally, then there's no benefit," he says.

POP European came about for Augustus Martin after several years of the four companies working together informally. "It has brought benefits to each company and our clients, which has led us to formalise the arrangement," Pattison says.
POP European, which is jointly owned and run by an independent management team based in Europe, operates as "one big printing company" with multiple plants offering localised support all over Europe. The list of truly international brands and retailers isn't very long, yet Pattison says it has significant clients and opportunities within it, many of which are already clients of the founding partners in their home markets.

When asked if it would be more beneficial to just merge the companies involved, Pattison says not. "The companies could not merge simply because they are not up for sale," he says. "They each have their own specialism and it all adds to the mix of products and services that we have."

Dimitri Hoebreckx, formerly with print management company HH Associates, has been appointed POP European business development director. He says the business development side is focusing on European brands and retailers where value can be added throughout the entire European process. "We are a proactive partner for clients and we add realistic value in our core business, which is POS, POP and outdoor marketing", he says.

In a similar move, large-format digital print and display company McKenzie Clark became a UK member of GIGA four years ago. GIGA is an association of global entrepreneurial companies that specialise in large-format digital imaging. It aims to create an international forum to debate processes and techniques that appear in the market, and shares technical information.

Global offering
Managing director Graham Clark says being part of GIGA offers clients an easy-to-use, single point of contact for service. "It is offered throughout the world where local suppliers work to agreed quality standards and are managed by the member local to the client's business," he says.

"The latter has been particularly useful to the clients of McKenzie Clark as the international transportation and installation of large-format graphics is particularly expensive and limits what customers can achieve within their budgets."
There is a history of smaller companies coming together to form a consortium on a more local basis. In 2002, for example, Bezier Corporate Print, Maidstone-based Impact, Portobello Press in London, and Newbury-based 5 Core joined forces to go up against a print management company in a competitive tender.

Marcus Clifford, director of BPIF McInnes Corporate Finance, says a successful consortium has massive purchasing power. "It can be very beneficial to all involved as resources can be shared and they can tender for work on a much larger scale. It can also offer clients a wider option, and there is no doubt it can open things out to a global spectrum."

Market openings
Many companies flourish by having a partner that brings into play a different set of skills. Clifford says: "If you're in the display sector, you have a project that you can work on with a partner that opens up new mediums.

"It has to be a two-way process and then the relationship can be regional, national or international, depending on where they believe the strategy is going."

A consortium can be approachable and beneficial for companies large and small in the print trade, regardless of whether they target abroad or locally. Clients can also gain from a range of specialist products that are, in effect, all attainable from under the same roof. And if the companies involved can boost their tender power, it suggests that POP European is unlikely to be the last of its kind to come to market.