MAGAZINE AND BOOK PRINTER
“We don’t tend to look for work outside the UK. Geographically, we’re in mid-Wales, which means it is quite a way to get across to mainland Europe. We are planning a campaign in southern Ireland, and a business development sales line is being set up over there. This is because of our location – we’re close to Fishguard in Pembrokeshire. Competition from outside the UK is definitely one of our main challenges. We are constantly under pressure from larger publishers as several are moving work over to the Far East. Our ability to fight back is purely based on turnover time.”
Doug Gray
Operations director
Cambrian Printers
PRINT BUYER
“We try to source in the UK or the EU. The key drivers for us are quality, continuity of supply, turnaround times and cost. You can’t ignore the cost benefits of going outside the UK so, as long as an overseas printer can guarantee quality, we would tend to go with them on price. We try to buy through a UK supplier that uses manufacturers across the EU and the Far East. Environmental impact is another important issue and we are becoming more aware of our carbon footprint – we’re trying to change our paper buying from Europe to the US for our catalogues over there.”
Claire Gibbon
Head of graphic design and production
Boden
LARGE-FORMAT PRINTER
“We have seen our work in mainland Europe and Scandinavia increase four- or fivefold in 24 months. Over the past five years, the UK print industry has got its act together to provide a more cost-effective platform. We don’t see overseas printers as a threat because we can offer a more cost-effective package. With magazines, publishers tend to place their work in Europe, but in the large PoS market we can be more competitive. The challenge is not to see it as fortress Britain but fortress Europe, with the opportunity in the PoS market to multiply your business tenfold.”
Gary Lasham
Managing director
Multigraphics
DIRECT MAIL PRINTER
“We don’t do a lot of trade in Europe. It’s not a huge market, as in the direct mail sector lead times are always an issue. Also, when you have to operate in a different postal system, it takes up a lot of extra time, which can be a problem. We have a manufacturing facility in China, which is for strategic, labour-intensive projects. The important consideration is that we fulfil our environmental and ethical obligations. There is absolutely no use of child or enforced labour, while the environmental credentials are also important for our clients in the UK.”
Patrick Headley
Sales director
GI Direct
Have your say in the Printweek Poll
Related stories
Latest comments
"Gosh! That’s a huge debt - especially HMRC! It’s a shock that HMRC allowed such an amount to be accumulated."
"Whatever happened to the good old fashioned cash job! At least the banks didn't take 2-3% of each sale. After 30 odd transactions that £100 quid you had has gone."
"It's amazing what can be found on the "web" nowadays!"
