|
I asked last month whether printers would form consortia to bid for work in the current tender for the Department for Children, Schools and Families, and suggested that competitive pressures would mean that they wouldn’t.
Well, I’m glad to say that I may have to eat my words. That is unless the lead story in today’s PrintWeek – about two rival greetings card printers forming an alliance – turns out to be nothing more than an isolated incident.
Although Sherwood Press and Loxleys Print have not merged, their alliance nevertheless forms a bloc that will have sales of around £15m a year. Were the two companies merging, the company would be in the top 150 printers in the country and a key force in the greetings card market.
The alliance seems a sensible move and, perhaps, one that other firms may want to consider. A key advantage for the two companies, they believe, is that they will be able to pool resources and clout when buying supplies and organising transport.
Moreover, it means that the two companies will be able to cross-sell the products which are specific to each of them, so moving towards the much-touted printer’s goal of being a one-stop shop for whatever a client may need. Much of the reorganisation of top companies like Adare and St Ives in recent years has been with this exact same aim.
I’m not aware of many cases where printers work together in this way, but in certain circumstances – here, for instance, much of the greetings card industry is moving oversesas – it is surely the right way forward. Good luck to Sherwood and Loxleys, and I look forward to hearing of more alliances in the future.
|