Is this the tipping point for UK web offset?

2288289 — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:41:00 GMT

So. This could be it then. The long-anticipated and much-speculated-about tipping point that triggers a further wave of consolidation that will shape the future of UK Web Offset plc.

Now that IPC has finally made its decision, and Wyndeham are the winners at St Ives' expense, what happens next?

Life will get much busier at Heron, Impact and Southernprint for one thing. I remain unconvinced that they can actually print (and bind) all this additional work, so will that mean knock-on moves for some other titles? There are other factors at play too that could free up some Walstead capacity, of course, such as Bauer's current review.

While the plaudits for winning such a prestigious contract must go to the Wyndeham/Southernprint team, the spotlight is now firmly on St Ives and what it will do next.

In its statement confirming the contract loss St Ives said the IPC work accounted for about 3% of group revenues - so that's £11.6m or 7.5% of sales in its media products division, which also includes books.

That's not far off £1m of work a month, which is a chunk of business whichever way you look at it. St Ives also said it would not chase volumes "at sub economic prices", the clear implication being that Wyndeham has offered IPC a cheaper deal - my sources cite a figure of less than £10m. What margin on that, I wonder? As someone quipped this morning: "It must be like a Carry On film at Wyndeham - trousers dropped everywhere."

Much more seriously, Plymouth in particular now looks vulnerable, and that must mean some interesting conversations are underway over at Vogue House. There's a view that if Plymouth were to close then Condé Nast will be short of options here and could even end up printing on the continent at Roto Smeets or Mohn, which would be a blow.

I think we can be fairly sure that St Ives won't rush into any decisions, though. Will it close Plymouth? Maybe. Will it sell the whole web division? Possibly.

The grand irony in all this consolidation speculation is that Polestar and Walstead are seen as the most likely consolidators, while BGP and now St Ives Web are the hypothetical consolidatees.

But St Ives is the only one with any cash. The eventual outcome of all this could surprise us yet.

Brooms old and new sweeping in

2288289 — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 11:31:00 GMT

April has involved interesting personnel moves aplenty. Last week's news that Les Pipe is returning to Wyndeham wasn't entirely unexpected - his name was in the frame for some sort of return to the group, although speculation had centred on Pipe perhaps being involved with a buyout of the pre-media side of the business. Once he gets his feet properly under the table next month I'm sure a lot of people will be watching closely to see precisely what his new group development role will entail.

There are echoes of St Ives' group sales play in the announcement, which brings me on to Pat Martell, who has now officially taken up the reigns as CEO at St Ives, so the question of the moment is "what will Pat do next?" to make his mark on the plc.

Last week also brought news of the welcome return of Graham Fraser, set to take up his new position at Gould International next month. With so many changes in the paper supply chain at present, this move too will definitely be one to watch. Graham is a smart cookie, so it's significant that he's chosen a role on the non-mill side of things.

Changes are also afoot at web printer BGP, which is building up its sales team with an aggressive recruitment drive and has already captured two new recruits from rival web firms. Checking out owner Sir John Madejski's wealth in the Sunday Times Rich List at the weekend, it states "falling asset values" have diminished his fortune by £150m to a mere £250m. The boys in Bicester must surely be under pressure to start turning in some more positive numbers sharpish.

Further westward, who would have predicted John Ashfield's return to the commercial print side of things at the revived and renamed Goodman Baylis? Gosh and double-gosh. And there are a few people who haven't yet resurfaced that I must be sure to keep tabs on too, including Ross Borton, Bob Caley, and Simon Ward. All in all the spring/summer period looks likely to be a vintage period for avid watchers of the industry's personnel merry-go-round.

Search results matching tags 'bgp' and 'St Ives'

Is this the tipping point for UK web offset?

Brooms old and new sweeping in