Last week, Andy Blundell took the helm at Communisis, the near £250m-turnover listed print business that employs almost 200 staff. Following on from Steve Vaughan, who had implemented a strategy of change, the former group sales director is faced with a number of challenges from the changing print market to rising debt within the business. In his first interview since taking charge, we find out a bit more about the man and his plans.

Congratulations on the appointment. Can you give a brief outline of your career so far?
I got early entrance to Oxford University and did a degree in fine art with a print speciality. It was unusual to go from a course like that into business, but I joined De La Rue on a graduate traineeship. I was promoted up the business, getting my grounding in the overseas markets and working on the acquisition of Harrison & Sons. I left De La Rue at the end of 2000 after 19 years and joined a management buyout team at BemroseBooth. I have been with Communisis since January 2008, originally running the print management side of the business. I am delighted to be taking over as chief executive. I think the business has a strong message that clients are receptive to.

It has been a period of transition for the company over the past three years. What do you identify as the key factors that Steve Vaughan brought to the company and will you be following that strategy?
What Steve has done is turn the business around. He has given it strong leadership and the belief in itself to reinvent and move from a more orthodox, albeit speciality, print business into an added-value services and technology-led business.
The general strategic direction of Communisis is not going to change. I have been a key part in forging the strategy of cross selling and technology acquisition. For example, we recently bought AI and the prospects for that company are very exciting. We have a compelling proposition to the market with our technology expertise.

However, in terms of style, I have come from the print services sector and can bring my expertise to bear. My management style is more inclusive too and I will be managing through a senior management team, which is evidenced in the appointment of John Wells to the board. We will be focusing on more acquisitions of key customers and doing more for those customers in an increasingly technology driven way, checking that what we manufacture is only mission critical work.

The acquisition of AI and disposal of Bath Business Forms was indicative of this move away from production and in to technology. Are there any other disposals or acquisitions in the pipeline?
Not specifically. We said at our half-year that we were not looking at major corporate acquisitions. What we are interested in is the progressive acquisition of more technology. You can see that in our deal to partner with HP Exstream and our acquisition of AI. That is going to continue. In addition, there is a lot more that we can make of the application of that technology with new and existing customers. Also, there are some very good things going on within our business, such as the opening up of the social housing sector within our Newcastle print management business.

The company has recently announced that former Communisis staff member Gurdev Singh and Simon Tate, formerly of Centurion, are to rejoin the company. What does this say about the company's strategy?
I have a lot of confidence in these guys. It says that people who are evidently successful in a sector want to rejoin Communisis and are voting with their feet.

Are there any plans for investment in machinery at the business or are you moving away from heavy metal?
By definition, we cannot say that we are about the future strategy of Communisis and carry on buying orthodox printing presses. What we are going to do is invest to complement our technology profile. We are already a lead house in colour digital and, if you asked me for one area in which we would invest, it would be high-speed digital colour.

In your interim results it emerged that debt had doubled over the period. At the same time, the pension deficit continues to rise. What measures are you putting in place to address these issues?
We already have good controls on working capital within the business. If you go into the business areas, you see good day-to-day control of stock, the right relationship with suppliers and good debtor control. We have had some outflows in the first half, some of that was seasonality, some was first-half loaded. But, overall, we have good controls in place and we have good relationships with our banks. We have had meetings with them recently and they are very positive about the direction that the business is heading in.

What do you see Communisis primarily as being: a print manager, a printer or a technology company?
We are all of those things. What we are very keen on and increasingly known for is our association with technology. That means adopting technology and making that work for our clients. We are interested in managed service deals. Some of these contracts when we first get them are what you might call standard "print management" models, but we are keen to move them upstream in the process as quickly as we can. In terms of what we choose to manufacture, that is going to get increasingly specialist. Our strapline is about intelligence driven communications and what we now manufacture will be driven towards that stapline. We will be increasingly testing if what we manufacture matches that remit and whether we should outsource if it does not.

What do you see as the major growth sectors in the market, both those that you are involved and those that you are looking to move into?
If you take the intelligence-driven communication theme, we are saying to our clients that we can help you communicate more effectively and more profitably with their customers. Coming out of the recession, we are seeing some signs of a pick up in demand in some areas that weren't there at the start of this year. Clients are increasingly questioning how they communicate with their wider audience and how they can do that in a more targeted way. That starts with data, but is about convergence in terms of, for example,  transpromo­tional messaging on bills and statements. We can define the target better than anyone else and we can execute on that profile. Transpromotional is now arriving, the larger utility companies and telcos are expounding it for the first time and there are a couple of deals going through now that will drive it forward. We are expecting it and investing in it and view it as a very good sweet spot for Communisis.

There are a number of big contracts going out for tender in your market at the moment. How do you see the market and will we see a major re-jig of contracts?
Our pipeline of new business is stronger than it has been for some time. We are coming out of recession and more institutions are looking at the outsourcing model. We will see new clients come on board and there is potential for a switch of contracts within the market as well. We intend to play in that area, we are about saying let's do things differently and present a different proposition. For example, our print at cost proposition: we can buy things more effectively in the print market than anyone else, so let's do that and be transparent about it and shift the model to a fee-base.

Print management has come under criticism for driving down prices in the market place and destabilising the industry. How do you respond to that charge and what positives can print management bring to the print industry?
The first thing to say is that the managed print services model that we operate is different to most print management roles and we have a very strong supply platform where suppliers like engaging with Communisis so we would disassociate ourselves with the abuse of suppliers in that area. Our suppliers work well with us. All companies, Communisis included, and trade suppliers need to decide what their business model is and who they engage with.

How do you view the pricing in the industry and will you be aiming to take a lead in raising prices?
We are looking to obtain a fair price for the value of services that we provide and do it on a fee-based model, rather than a mark-up on print. We bring a lot of value and we want to work with clients who recognise that value. Some aspects of pricing in the UK are not sustainable and that will create some issues.

Do you plan any further cuts or further restructuring?
We are not sat here today saying that we will embark on some major restructuring. We will look at volume demand on parts of the organisation and react to that. We will invest in capacity in growth areas, but overall we are saying that the organisation is in reasonably fair shape, but we are not being complacent.