Acompany's annual report is more than just a collection of financial figures - it's a showpiece document that presents to the public a company's image and values. It can be an effective and highly creative piece of marketing.

Take one example from Croatia - a food company's annual report had to be cooked for 25 minutes before the blank pages revealed the text. The document was printed with thermo-reactive ink and the design prompted a number of obvious jokes about cooking the books.

It's highly unlikely that this year's glut of reports & accounts will be quite so unusual and extreme. However, it is likely that they will look very different from their predecessors more than 20 years ago. Back then, they were monochrome documents that served the purpose of reporting financial figures and relaying the chairman's statement, but little else. Times have changed and the annual report has now become a far more ambitious document - one that shows print in a more creative light, allowing designers' imaginations to run wild.

However, as another financial year draws to a close, the economic downturn has meant that many of the public limited companies are reporting some pretty gloomy figures. While there is some evidence of a recovery, it's a fragile one and caution is the watchword.

Economic impact
So how has this affected reports & accounts printers? Against such a backdrop it would be understandable if companies were reluctant to spend big on the printed document. Online is such an affordable option and in some cases it has squeezed out print altogether.

But it's not all gloom and doom. There is still demand for printed R&As and creativity has not as yet been stifled by budget constraints. That said, price pressure is still affecting the market and there is certainly a more sober approach to how R&As are produced. For printers, the fact that they are being requested at all is positive news.

"It very much varies from market to market," explains Beacon Press director Richard Owers. "Some customers are carrying on doing what they have been doing for years. Others are being more frugal, which goes hand in hand with a downturn in the market."

While the print sector has had to battle the recessionary forces on the one hand, on the other it's had to contend with the threat of the internet. Two years ago, the new Companies Act came into force meaning that public limited firms were no longer obliged to print hard copies of financial reports. Printers were obviously nervous as to how the ruling would effect them.

End of an era
The act signalled the end of hefty publications that were giving Royal Mail postal workers backache - it's claimed the HSBC report from 2007 contained a whopping 454 pages. So it was no surprise that the likes of the Royal Bank of Scotland were urging their shareholders to opt to view the information in electronic form and many investors took them up on this offer. As a result, there were plenty of doom-mongers espousing the opinion that the end of the printed annual report was nigh.

The reality is that the PLCs have just taken the opportunity to print less, according to Owers.
"The run lengths have fallen and companies have increased their spend on online reports. It is a changing picture," he says.

However, he points to the fact that, in the last year, there has been a slight change in attitude. Since the Act became enshrined in law, printed copies of the annual report haven't completely declined thanks to investor pressure.
"There has been a trend of shareholders saying they would actually like a printed copy," he says.

Now R&A printers like Gary Mellish, managing director at Royle Print, feel that the market has settled down.
"The trend is to reduce volumes, but it has been nothing like as dramatic as was predicted," he says. "Two years ago, we were doing runs of around 9,000, while this year it might be about 6,000. It has reduced, but not dramatically."

Both Mellish and Owers add that, while volumes have gone down, paginations have gone up. Companies are having to report more on their corporate social responsibilities and risk management, making the publications weightier.

Another area that has seen change is how the reports look. This is a matter of contention and there are plenty of considerations to take into account to ensure that the tone of the report fits into the company's ethos. It's a tricky balancing act at the moment, according to Owers.

"No one wants to be seen as being extravagant or wasting money at the moment - it seems inappropriate," he explains.
That said, the process for putting together an annual report remains the same and requires the printer and the designer to work closely together.

According to Royle Print's Mellish, this is crucial and it's all about the timing.

"It's vital for us to have a relationship with the designer, as well as the end user," he explains. "The technical aspects of the publication need to be correct from the outset and that means working with the designer as early as possible. It's about not only getting the visual aspects right, but also testing effects on different stocks. You've got to test on a variety of papers."

Long gone are the days when a printer would be sent some artwork from the client and be expected to churn out a few thousand copies. Everything needs to be organised from the ground up, from the pre-press all the way through to distribution, mailing and fulfilment.

"Timing is absolutely critical," warns Mellish. "Having a timetable in place is paramount and it applies from the guys on the machine through to the sales team. There is no scope for delay - you only have one shot at it."
And it's not just about managing the project, he says. It's also about making sure that your presses are ready to swing into action, which means carefully planning when the job is printed. It's vital there are no conflicts with other jobs, as any kind of delay can mean existing clients are let down and this could have a knock-on affect on new customers.

As if all this wasn't enough, printers also have to grapple with environmental considerations. Large corporate businesses are keen to show off their green credentials more than ever so an environmentally conscious printer with the relevant accreditations is therefore a must.

"They are looking to use print companies with sound printing technology and environmentally sound papers," adds Beacon Press's Owers.

Eco choices
There appears to be a growing acceptance among corporate print buyers that selecting an FSC or PEFC accredited paper is a green choice. According to Mellish, there has been a shift away from demands to print entirely on recycled papers, thanks to the clients' increasing knowledge of the options that are available.

"The problem with recycled is that you have to pay a premium," adds Mellish. "But they now know that FSC and PEFC are important credentials to have."

While having greener print is good for a plc's brand, it's worth noting that one of the many reasons for moving reports from print to online was down to environmental considerations. The perception is that by switching to the internet, resources are being saved and the company is being greener. However, clued-up print buyers and the industry in general know that this is a grossly simplified argument and that print isn't the environmental disaster it's often painted to be. But it's worth noting that online annual reports have eaten into print runs and might also be shifting the creativity from print to the internet.

"The creativity is being channelled into online reporting," observes Owers. "The printed annual report is still to a very high standard, but isn't too creative."

Spreading the load
Mellish also warns that print businesses looking to get a foothold in this market shouldn't be putting all their eggs in the same basket.

"It is a competitive market and clients are still looking for value," he says. "There are still price pressures out there and we have seen some competitors struggle. The biggest problem is that it is a seasonal market - the two key times of the year are March to April and June to July. Interim reports aren't produced in the same volumes so printers have to have a broader base. It is difficult to survive on report & accounts work alone."

It may well be a tough and competitive market, but the printed annual reports market looks far from dead. While the changes in the law mean that public limited companies can now simply place their accounts online, it hasn't dealt the devastating blow that some originally feared. And it hasn't stopped designers creating eye-catching documents, nor printers stepping up to the plate to respond to market demands. At a time when all print sectors continue to come under threat from the internet, it's good to see that the reports & accounts sector is mounting a fight back.

CASE STUDY - BEACON PRESS
There are plenty of examples of creative annual reports and last year’s PrintWeek Award winner for report & accounts, Beacon Press, demonstrated its print prowess in the sector. Its work on the Shaftesbury Annual Report 2009 was singled out for particular praise.
The Uckfield-based firm carried out colour conversions from RGB to CMYK, while keeping the gamut as large as possible. Book proofs were carried out on its six-colour Heidelberg CD102 – the same press then churned out the final printed report.Final colour corrections were carried out prior to imaging the plates for the production run using custom profiles, developed by Beacon.
But what made the project a success was that Beacon had worked closely with the designer and the end result was down to good communication. It’s further evidence that in order to get the right result, the printer needs to work hand-in-hand with the designer.