We have seen a lot of interest in the effects of the recession on the UK print industry and the need for a means of representing the state of the UK print nation on the industry's terms, so we want your help in compiling a survey that answers the questions that matter to you.

First of all we'll need those questions. They can be quite probing but don't worry, we won't publish responses of individual respondents so anonymity is assured. You'll find a few of our ideas below, but please feel free to add your own or suggest different phrasing. Remember it's your survey, so get involved.

Suggested questions 

1 Which areas of your business are profitable/loss-making?

2 What percentage of your work do you make a loss on?

3 How will you cope with the current economic climate? (muddle through, downsize, acquisition strategy, organic growth strategy)

4 Have you invested in new technology in the last six months/currently investing/last two years/last five years/intend to in the next year/no investment plans?

5 How much of your business is domestic/international?

6 Company size? (staff/turnover)

7 What percentage of your business is with print managers/clients direct/trade printers?

It is always difficult to say which are jobs on which one makes a loss, in my situation which is probably representitive of most others is, lets say for example from day one in the month I am commited to £50,000 per month on finance, £50,000 per month on wages, my paper and consumables bill will also be in the region of £50,000, power, rates, mortgage, and others is say £25,000. Therefore If I don't succeed to acheive more that this I lose on every job. This is the pressure on business owners we are very highly geared and have to achieve an awful lot to break even. One rarely knows where the next job is comonig from lead times are so short, it's difficult to plan ahead, take on too much and you can't offer the service. it is feasibly possible no work comes in at all, or too much comes in. Artwork is late, jobs are put on hold and press time can easily be lost. Naturally we all prefer added value jobs for me I want to print,laminate, die cut, fold, and stitch all of which we do in house, however we receive work which is to print flat sheet onto paper supplied and return, where in effect I am simply selling time on the press with a little added value (ink). The nature of the business is extremely diverse, this is what keeps it exciting and interesting. Every day (and night) is a challenge, to achieve quality, hit deadlines, one has to be on call 24 hours per day, your shirt (mortgage) is on the line, and one bad debt as we reveived last year in December can write of the whole years efforts. It's just not worth it, all the risk is with the printer, but sadly the profit is with the buyer / middleman. Do I sound bitter. How sad is it that having worked 12 hours today I am still reading Printweek.com, because it's in the blood!

John Grogan 

I think it would be fascinating to know...

- what proportion of owner managers are looking to sell their businesses

- for those who wish to sell, what the preferred options for those sales are and how they envisage such a deal happening

- whether they think the next six months will see an improvement, a worsening or no change in the current trading climate

Thanks to John Grogan

It has brought a lot of much needed debate on the print industry.

To answer, I hope in the correct manner:

Which areas of your business are profitable/loss-making?
The printing side of the business is a total loss making enterprise this year, we fix our prices for 12months, in that time our costs have went up by 40%, as such has wiped out our profits on both the litho and digital side.
The profitable side of the business has been the distribution of our customers goods, we also sell our customers products direct to the end user which are mainly schools and has been very rewarding.

What percentage of your work do you make a loss on?
Only on the print side which now represents around 40% of our turnover.

How will you cope with the current economic climate? (muddle through, downsize, acquisition strategy, organic growth strategy)
Thank GOD, we have two great customers, all the work is for the education market, so we're unaffected by the current economic climate, my only worry is the continual increases on paper and supply costs, and the possiblity that our two customers may pass away - both over 70!
We have also taken on a new customer today - our first in four years - which has switched from a print management company to ours based on our service not price, this is our first retail based customer and we have great plans to help develop the company.
I'd also like to mention that we we're £70,000 more expensive than the print management firm.

Have you invested in new technology in the last six months/currently investing/last two years/last five years/intend to in the next year/no investment plans?
Our digital equipment gets replaced every year without question, when we purchase equipment, we aim for payback well within the year, as such we don't have top of the range xerox/hp/heidelberg but we can print upto 140 pages per min. colour and 180 pages per min. B&W and the purchase price for top quality colour and B&W at this speed - less than £12,000!
Our litho machines, we aim to have for another 5 years at least, a small increase in speed doesn't warrant a £100,000 + investment.
We have also looked into bringing the print finishing back in-house, we tried this four years ago. After getting quotes for new equipment that were suitable for our needs, we've found it's not worth the investment, we're too small to warrant a £100,000 spend, to save £4-£5,000 a year. So a big thankyou to Kevin and staff at Sprintfinish - Sunderland. 

How much of your business is domestic/international?
This is something I'm very proud about approx 75% is domestic 25% international.

What percentage of your business is with print managers/clients direct/trade printers?
100% Clients direct, we used to be a trade only printer, providing services for print managers and other local printers, but after I had to mortgage my home to keep the business afloat, I realised I needed to change, thanks to the staff we are now a very profitable business, I've repaid my mortgage, we're very profitable, our TWO customers, well what can I say but they had a lot of faith in us to deliver the goods and we did, and we have been rewarded in that one customer had a phone call from  a rep at Pindar who she promptly told to P*** off and never to phone again.

Company size? (staff/turnover)
Staff 4 and a 1/2, turnover aprox 1.2mill

Would I sell my business?
I'm now retired, the firm is trading under the management of the staff, although I still work 40hours per week, helping them out! The staff are the bigest asset without doubt, they all work 100hrs+ per week in our rush periods of Sept, Oct, March and April.
I was given the chance to sell the firm but when I looked at the buyers credit history, there wasn't a chance in hell that I would put the employees at risk. Whilst everything is still in my name, I consider it owned by the employees, my only role is to ensure that people get paid on time and that all the accounts are in order.

HI Julie - thanks for responding - but for this part of the project we're canvassing you guys for questions. We want to make sure we are asking the right things so that we end up with a report that gauges the print industry on metrics that are important to you. So please add your ideas as you see fit! 

 I would also add questions that cover training from both the top down and bottom up - ie are you investing in training and what has it delivered, and have you received training and how do you feel you have benefitted.

Questions I would like to pass to print firms - not pm firms.

Turnover
No., of staff
Profit
How long have the staff been employed - average.
Local competitors ie., within 10 miles
No., of years trading.
Feelings on pm firms, do you think they provide a good service, or like me and many others - feel that they are a blight on the print trade! 
What would you consider a pm firms role to be? Provide value added services, new working methods or slashing costs to the bone.
If you supply a pm firm do you get paid on time or is it 90days+
Do you feel that with the right guidance you could take on the role of a pm firm, or do you only wish to put ink on paper!
Do you use other printers in your local area, if you can't get the job done?

To the PM firms out there, yes I do have a chip on my shoulder we've been abused for far too long, if you want to look at how a printmanagent firm should work look at http://www.printweek.com/news/831535/Harlow-Printing-opens-door-2m-upgrade/

Maybe you should contact them for advice!!

It now appears to me that most owners of print firms don't give a damm, this forum was set up with you in mind, to raise questions about the print trade. Those questions could in some way help your company.

Looking at the fantastic reponse only shows that either, most don't care or your firm is doing great!

Thank you John Grogan and the editor Matt Whipp, it's such a shame about the response.

Julie Cook

1. Has your business turnover increased/decreased over the last 6-12 months (positive look on things)?
2. Have you found technology offering a sustainable alternative or not (if yes/no explain)? Golden rule to printers, DO NOT BUY TECHNOLGY unless your sure it can help your business and you can get a return from it, and that is from a guy who sells technology to printers!!!
3. Have you ever used the internet (three times this year I have been told that it's a phase by printers!)?
4. Have you looked into new markets or even just ones that compliment your current position? Do you have a plan?
5. Have you analysed what percentage of your customer base is reliant on your top 3/5 customers (if it's only 1 or 2 then you must be same guys from question 3!)?
6. Have you analysed why you are losing business if you are, can you put your finger on it?
7. Have you analysed (“looked at” for the question 3 people) who your competitors are?
8. Have you made lifestyle changes to support your business, lots of poor printers in Range Rovers & Mercs out there?

These are great! Thanks

I'm a North East Girl

But still very little response