British manufacturing has taken a bit of a battering in recent years, so it was good to read last month that Butler, Tanner and Dennis (BT&D) has launched a Great British book marque aimed at promoting UK printed books to consumers. According to managing director Kevin Sarney, there is more to it than just simply showing that its latest products were printed in Britain.

"We wanted to make a point and stimulate interest," he says. "The marque promotes manufacturing in the UK at a time when there is good reason to have a sterling alternative."

Whether customers will be swayed by a badge that proves a book was manufactured in the UK is open to debate, but from a publisher's point of view, it's a case of what makes more financial sense. With the weak pound, printing in the UK might not be a bad option. Then there's the added bonuses of improving a book's speed to market and a reduced carbon footprint. But is that enough to stave off cut-throat pricing from south-east Asia?

The marque has caused plenty of debate among PrintWeek's online community. One blogger believes it's a "great idea", but another counters that people buy books based on content, rather than where it's manufactured. Sarney disagrees with the latter assessment.

"The general public want to support UK industry - people do prefer to buy British," he adds. "We could have waited for trade bodies to do this, but sometimes you have to get off your backside and do something yourself. My view is that we have the right service and the right quality. We can also deliver quicker than the European alternatives."

A ready alternative
Sarney believes that, in the long term, publishers should have an alternative supply line in place to respond to currency fluctuations. And that means having a printer of choice that they can turn to in the UK. "We are in tough economic times and publishers need to retain margins," he adds. "We, as a business, have to react to the changing model and provide them with high levels of service."

It's an idea the firm has taken to the continent. BT&D was at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October and Sarney says that in the colour books market, the firm has gone head-to-head with European suppliers for work. The feedback from the event was positive and showed signs that the effects of the weak pound were working in the UK's favour.

At home, BT&D's efforts have been applauded by others in the industry. Richard Owers, business development director at Beacon Press, agrees that the book market can gain from the weaker pound. "It makes our product less expensive than before," he says. "People like to buy from their own country, but if it becomes expensive then they look for an alternative."
Owers says that his company has been getting more enquiries from publishers who had been considering shifting their production to suppliers in mainland Europe but have had second thoughts.

He's not surprised by this development, as prices are favourable, but that's not the only reason - like Sarney, Owers believes that the business model and level of service in the UK is a major advantage.

"I think that publishers can have much more control of quality," he says. "In this country, the industry is very quality conscious and we can respond quickly to customer input. Delivery can take only a few hours, rather than days, and you can have more face-to-face interaction between the publisher and the supplier."

Beacon's book work is in highly specialised markets and tends to be very image-conscious print. This means the relationship between printer and publisher needs to be close. Using a book printer on the continent is a risk for any publisher, says Owers, and it also has environmental drawbacks.

"Printing in the UK can definitely bring environmental improvements and means that the publisher reduces its carbon footprint," he adds. "Generally, companies are becoming more conscious of that. UK print is very advanced in its environmental understanding."

BT&D's Sarney concurs. "We believe that, as a business, you have a responsibility to the environment. By printing in the UK, publishers don't generate so large an environmental impact - you're not transporting goods across countries or continents."

However, while there may be a strong underlying reason for publishers to ‘buy British', does such a message resonate in other markets? TJ International chief executive Angus Clark reckons that a Great British book marque is a "very, very good idea", but only for the consumer market. TJ International's market is academic books and it isn't so much of an issue for Clark's customers.

"We are winning a little bit of business that was previously printed in Europe," he says. "But some publishers have gone further afield to south-east Asia."

Shadow of the East
That region remains a threat to the UK market. For all the currency fluctuations, it's still very tempting for publishers to outsource to a region where labour costs are considerably lower and it can be more economic to print high-volume work. Beacon's Owers argues that, while there is undoubtedly some areas that UK printers can't compete on, such as price, "publishers that are going that far outside the UK are willing to accept a compromise on quality and environmental standards".

But BT&D's Sarney believes that markets such as China aren't just catching up - they have already caught up. "The quality of work from these emerging markets is already good," he says. "You can't sell purely on the strength of your product. And China will have the cheaper alternative - we can't fight that."

Where UK print can fight back is offering publishers value-added services and getting closer to the customer and that could involve some kind of on-demand element.

Over the past few years, plenty of book printers have invested heavily in digital print equipment in a bid to muscle in on the short-run book market. Might that sway publishers to stay in the UK?

"Digital products do offer new opportunities," says Owers. "But it isn't work that's going overseas."

Although digital may not be a factor, BT&D's Sarney reckons that publishers that remain in the UK aren't lumbered with huge amounts of stock and have to wait several weeks for those products to ship. "In the supply chain, there is demand for a UK supplier," he adds. "And our Great British book marque has definitely stirred up interest."

There are few in the book printing sector who would argue that the recession hasn't had a massive impact. But sometimes even the darkest of clouds can have a silver lining and BT&D's campaign has given publishers food for thought; thanks to the weak pound, outsourcing to the continent may not be the most cost-effective way to get books printed. Add to that the demand for faster turnaround times plus environmental pressures, and the UK might be better placed than other European countries to cash in.

That said, Asia still holds the trump card when it comes to price and that has to be a major factor when a publisher chooses a printer, especially in a recession where budgets are tight. But the UK has plenty to offer in terms of value-added services. The BT&D Great British book marque is not just a case of patriotic flag-waving, but rather a way of highlighting the fact that the industry in the UK has plenty going for it and that it has the skills and the willingness to innovate to ensure their is a compelling argument to print British books in Britain.