This is hardly surprising when you consider his name is synonymous with one of the industry’s historic brands. So it goes without saying that his industry career began at the print operation of the family business, Jarrolds.

But after completing his degree and cutting his teeth on everything from estimating to press minding, he decided to broaden his horizons by qualifying as an accountant with Ernst & Young, before joining United Business Media (UBM) in that role in 1992.

After leaving UBM in 1994, he spent four years at US-based International Data Group’s London office as international financial controller, before finally being lured back to the family business in 1998 as finance director, then operations director and finally managing director in 2002. 

It was during this time with the business he learned many of the lessons that helped shape his future career – from driving structural change in terms of client base and working practices to continual improvement in production and customer service.

He was at the helm of Jarrolds for three years, until shortly after 70% of the business was sold to a management buy-in team tasked with relocating the business from its prime city centre site in Norwich. A move that ultimately resulted in the business, New Jarrold Printing, closing in 2006.

But by then print, already in Jarrold’s blood, was in his heart too, and in 2005 he took the reins at Newsquest-owned Southernprint, leaving when it was sold to Walstead Investments in 2010. He then joined St Ives as managing director of its web operations, before leaving when the division was bought by – you guessed it – Walstead Investments in 2011.

It was then that he undertook what he describes as one of the “steepest learning curves of his career” and set up Jarrold Media, to firstly fully understand the online world and then look at opportunities where it could intersect with print, resulting in the launch of Makemynewspaper.co.uk and online design software Page prodigy.com. Neither of which, at the time of writing, have been bought by Walstead Investments.

Darryl Danielli You’ve run fair few print businesses in your time; how are you going to resist the temptation of telling people how to run theirs?

Charles Jarrold I’m told that any man’s second greatest love is telling people how to run their business. I have an appreciation of what it takes to run a business and how difficult it is. I do have experience, but every business is different. If I can help a member identify what needs doing then that’s fantastic, but that’s helping, it’s something offered or invited, it’s certainly not telling someone what to do. I’ve been on the receiving end of unwanted advice enough to know the difference. 

So what is the plan for the first three months then?

Certainly the first 30 days will be spent seeing as many key stakeholders as possible, and then to build on that – it’s a 30-, 60-, 90-day process in my mind. By the end of that period I should have a pretty good idea of where we’re going as an organisation. At this moment in time it’s not as if I have a huge in-tray of problems, and that’s testament to Kathy [Woodward, the BPIF’s former chief executive who passed away last summer] and the great team I’ve inherited. So I can focus on looking forward and looking for opportunities.

Was that one of the things that appealed about the role?

On a personal level, one of the things that appealed was the opportunity, in a funny way, to do some of the things I did at Southernprint as managing director.

Like what?

Well a big part of my role there was to understand the environment we operated in and then think about how Southerprint could successfully position itself, adapt and compete in that world. The parallel is being strongly externally focused, by talking to customers, or in the BPIF’s case members, and understanding their businesses. But also talking to suppliers and, when it comes to improving the business, then talking to front-line staff and making sure that I think about all of those needs when developing a strategy. For example, I know that I need to think about how print fits into the marketing communications and technology landscape.

Do you think the BPIF’s function is to ask the big questions then? Or more to come up with the solutions?

The honest answer is that it has to be both. We need to help our members and the industry to identify the opportunities, but also give them the tools, through products and services to adapt to them. So I should be quite busy initially. But I think the BPIF is in a great position to do both, certainly in a much better position than it was five years ago thanks to the work Michael [Johnson, CEO before Woodward] and Kathy did.

Do you have some thoughts on the future direction of the BPIF yet?

I certainly don’t see any radical change.

Is that because you think any necessary radical change at the federation has already happened?

I think there has been a significant period of change at the BPIF, and we’re certainly not in the turnaround situation anymore. My sense, and you have to appreciate that it’s very early days, is that we have good people and very good products and services. Training has been a particularly good success story: the graduation of the first intake is due to take place on 2 July this year and there’s a second level-five process about to start.

How many graduates will you have?

I think around 160. The feedback has been very positive indeed. So in April this year Kay [Smith, training director] will kick off the second process.

Have you secured another chunk of government funding then?

My understanding is that it will be funded slightly differently. We’re in this period now, with the general election looming, where major funding decisions are on hold. But the scheme does a number of great things, it creates a cohort of BPIF-trained people, and we would be very keen to ensure they continue to network together and we would be keen to stay in touch with them.

So do you see training as being key to what the BPIF does?

Absolutely. As an industry it’s really important that we’re seen as giving people a wide range of skills and experience that sets them up for a great career. That’s been my view for long time, going as far back as when we did Vision in Print (ViP) back in my Southernprint days. That’s what we said to people when we put them through the ViP workshops: that we were giving them skills, regardless of where the future might take them, that would be incredibly useful to them. 

But if you already have solid foundations here, in terms of the business and product mix, what are your challenges? 

I prefer to think of opportunities rather than challenges. So our biggest opportunity is to grow the business services side of things and I think that is entirely consistent with what we want to do as a member-owned trade association.

Is part of a business plan to move the federation away from being over reliant on membership fees then?

I would like to think we could grow our membership as well as our business services. That’s what we’ll be looking and trying to do. As the industry continues to consolidate there are implications for our membership. We have around 1,300 members drawn from an industry that has around 9,000 companies across a very broad spectrum and we need to make sure that it’s not just our members that know what we can do, but the wider industry too. We have to make sure we have a good financial footing, which we do have right now, and continue to develop that.

What about the lobbying activity, is that going to continue?

Yes, and I will be closely involved with that. We’re engaged with Intergraf [the Brussels-based pan European organisation that represents print trade bodies]. It appears to me that in the UK we don’t understand how Brussels works as well as some of our European colleagues do and we need to get to grips with that – to make sure that the UK sector and our members get as much benefit as possible.

There is a logic to that, because I guess with the exception of packaging, the industry here isn’t a great exporter.

No. But if there’s funding available, then we need to utilise that.

I would imagine there’s also a lot of expertise in Europe that we could benefit from?

I’ve been involved with a network of European printers since my Jarrolds days and that’s something I’ve remained involved in, so I know engaging is beneficial. Engaging with Westminster is also something I will be pushing forward with.

Is it slightly daunting though that a lot of your time is going to be swallowed up with meetings, when you’re used to being more hands-on?

If it’s time in talking shops, then, yes, that will be frustrating. We need to be clear about what we’re trying to achieve. I’m not one for sitting in bureaucratic meetings just because we feel we should be there; we need to be clear about what we want to achieve with anyone we engage with and make sure we contribute. That was one of the many things Kathy did: she pushed Intergraf to be much clearer about what it wanted to achieve and why the BPIF should be involved.

Do you see yourself as carrying on where Kathy left off generally?

I do, Kathy drove a lot of change through and I think we owe her a massive debt of gratitude for that. Clearly she could be very forthright in her manner. I’m prepared to be very direct too, but I would hope that we could continue those good relationships.

But how do you plan to leave your mark on the federation?

I think my stamp will be to ensure that the organisation is very outwardly focused and has a very strong commercial side to it, and is financially sustainable. In fact there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be financially strong. I’ve held specific P&L responsibilities in a number of large organisations in the past and what I can bring is an understanding of how we can deliver value to our members, because I’ve been sat on the other side of the table.

You mean because you used to be a BPIF member?

Absolutely. Although many of the services that the BPIF offered we had available at group level in many of the businesses I worked at. But I think the environment has changed a lot too, so there’s probably an opportunity in those sorts of companies.

You mean some of the bigger organisations have slimmed down their group activities, so some of the BPIF services might appeal more now?

Possibly, but more likely that the dialogue will be around strategic direction, and I hope that’s an area where we can contribute. It’s an area where I have good contacts and a good understanding.

Is that an area that Kathy was already steering the federation towards?

Its difficult to say what Kathy would have done had she continued in the job, but I don’t see a radical switch in direction. I’m a different person to Kathy and I probably have different skills and strengths, but I don’t see strategic change in our focus as a federation. Kathy and the team were focused on turning the federation around, and that was probably quite difficult at times. Any change of that order of magnitude is not easy, but she steered the organisation through that process to give it a solid platform, which we can now build on. We’re not in turnaround, but if we see things that need dealing with we’ll deal with them.

Would it be a more exciting challenge if it were in turnaround?

No. I wouldn’t say turnarounds are easy, but it’s often quite easy to see what needs to be done. What’s really exciting in business is building things; once you’ve turned a business around that’s the end of that stage. Longer term it’s about growing it sustainably. 

With that in mind, did the federation ever get the £5m VAT rebate it was hoping to get?

No, unfortunately that never happened – I don’t know the ins and outs. It’s a shame because that would have resolved our pension deficit very quickly. But there’s already a long-term plan in place for that anyway – and it’s not a position that is dissimilar from those that a lot of businesses face. It’s a bit tedious, but there we are.

What do you see as the key challenge – or opportunity – for the industry generally?

Adapting to the change.

Adapting to it or recognising it? Do you think the industry as a whole has recognised that it needs to change?

It’s a mixture. Different organisations have different opportunities. I know these sound like buzzwords, but we all need to be positive, confident and I think we need to be prepared to take a close interest in understanding what’s going on around us. On the whole, print companies are better placed than many of them realise to adapt to those changes. But I do appreciate that, sometimes, just surviving is hard enough.

On the subject of survival, in the same way a lot of print companies have a had a tough few years, the same is probably true of some of the smaller industry bodies. Is there an opportunity to merge or work with some of the those organisations?

Well, we do that with BOSS and that seems to work well. In the sense that we need to be open, engaged and engaging, then I think that’s consistent with that goal. I can’t talk about merging, I’ve only been in the job a couple of weeks, but I’ll definitely be engaging with those organisations, and if we have the expertise, skills and resources that can usefully be used by them then we should help. We’re keen to work with them. 

So that in effect they can become agents for selling your services?

That’s a lot of what we do for BOSS, we provide all the infrastructure and services to BOSS and that could be a model that we follow.

Beyond print trade associations, do you think the BPIF is unique in terms of its infrastructure and the level of in-house services it offers?

My sense is that it is and that’s what made this job so interesting. If it was a traditional, historical trade association then I don’t think I would have been interested. But leading this organisation, which does so much more and can be so much more still is really interesting – and better still it’s on a pretty strong platform, albeit in a tough sector.

Do you think generally the market is getting a bit stronger?

I think parts of it will continue to be challenging – high-volume, generic manufacturing will continue to be very tough. I think the ability to add value though print and print-related services, that’s an area that will be vibrant. The book sector is quite interesting. According to the FT, the US book market grew by 2.5% last year, the UK market is still reducing, but it’s definitely slowing and Kindle sales seem to be levelling off. A few years ago PwC predicted that e-book sales would outstrip book sales by 2016, they’re now saying that’s not on the horizon. 

They’re different products, complementary almost.

I agree. I’m not in favour of aggressively defending print just because we feel we should. Promoting print’s benefits and what it offers makes more sense. We shouldn’t be saying ‘it’s better than…’ we should say ‘it’s different to, it’s complementary to…’. Back to your question though, there are parts that are tough now and will only get tougher, but there are parts that will grow. I think those businesses that understand how to add value to print, will be the ones that succeed.

Do you think the days of the big companies are over and it’s now about being lithe and agile?

It’s a complete mixture. Those that have got legacy cost bases have found it much harder to adapt, because if you’ve got big offices and a big staff, then it’s tough to change your business model. When you look at some sectors, there’s clearly a lot more to play out.

Back to the Fed though. It’s always been subject to massive expectation from the industry in terms of what it can do, especially from non-members; how do you approach that?

We need to make sure we engage with non-members, but our primary duty has to be towards our members. They’re paying us to help make them successful. In terms of being a wider force for the industry, then we’re very happy to do that, and we’ll listen if there are things non-members want us to do.

But you’ll listen more closely if they join you as members?

You took the words right out of my mouth. 

Is there an argument for changing the basic model and move away from membership fees model – where firms pay a percentage of turnover, which I imagine puts off a lot of smaller companies – in order to encourage membership?

We haven’t got any plans to do that, because just talking about it sends the hares running. But we need to make sure that we have a membership fee structure that works across a very diverse industry and what we do does seem to work. I will look at it in more detail, but I’ve no doubt that making any sort of change would be incredibly complex.

What about attracting those sexier print companies, the kind that probably don’t feel a connection with the BPIF, how do you plan to attract them?

For those sorts of businesses, then that’s where our training services should appeal. For the more grass-roots members, it might be more of the classic business services like HR and legal. We have three tiers of services, the classic, the business improvement services like Vision in Print, which hasn’t got much momentum under it at the moment – and I’m keen to look at that. Then there’s the more strategic and lobbying side.

Don’t you think Vision in Print has had its time though, in that it has helped all the companies that could really benefit from it?

There certainly was a period when very few print companies understood lean manufacturing, but what I don’t know at the moment is if that demand is still there. It could be a case that the market’s needs have changed, or that our focus has just been elsewhere. It might be that the same could be said of a few services to be fair, but that’s what I plan to find out. 

But I suppose the federation had to focus on certain core services, because it’s had to slim down over the years to get its finances right?

Kathy had to simplify the BPIF of course, but it still offers a significant range of products and services. Right now I don’t know if we might need to slim that down further over time, but that’s something we can take our time looking at because the business itself is solid.

I know it’s been five months since Kathy died, but she had such a big impact on the fed, what was the morale like on your first day?

Really positive, really enthusiastic. It’s only been a couple of weeks, but the team has been incredibly welcoming. I would hope that my reputation for being open, approachable and engaging is some thing people are aware of, or at least are becoming rapidly aware of. 

But it must be daunting trying to take over from someone who is almost canonised by the industry?

It is. That’s a very real issue. Kathy did many brilliant things, and I would never speak ill of her many achievements here. But by the nature of the challenge she faced there was some collateral damage, it was unavoidable. But she built an amazing team, which is no surprise because developing people was one of her many strengths. From what I’ve seen it’s also a team that fits well with what I want to achieve. I like bright, buzzy, opinionated and thoughtful people and we have those in spades here – and that’s great. I know a lot of people say it, but I want to hear opinions, I don’t want people that toe the party line. 

Do you think you’ll be saying that in a year’s time?

I absolutely will. I need to understand what’s behind what people say or think. There are some things that we just can’t do anything about, but it’s about recognising and understanding that. 

How do you mean?

In the offset market we’re price takers, so we need to understand what the best price that we can achieve in the market is. We then need to create an environment in which our customers want to work with us at that price. What we can’t do is try and get agreements that are beyond what the market will pay – in a commoditised sector you just can’t do that. It’s about recognising the things we can change, like downtime and wastage, and customer service for example. In any business you need to focus on the things you can change and influence. Yes, talk about the things that are out of your control, but you have to recognise that you can’t change them, and certainly not in the short term.

Final question then, when you leave the BPIF how will you gauge the success of your tenure?

I would like to look back at the BPIF and say this federation is a world-class provider of products and services to its members and to the media sector as a whole.

That’s a pretty wide-ranging statement.

What I mean is that we need to develop the services side of what this organisation does and, by doing that, we need to give a greater value than ever to everyone that operates in our sector. And that will have a positive impact on the industry as a whole. We want to be the go-to organisation for training, advice, lobbying – all of that. That’s a huge opportunity for the BPIF, and an amazing opportunity for me and I hope that when I look back I’ll be able to say: yes, we did all right.