In the past month alone, the industry has seen IOS conduct a strategic review of its operations following its acquisition of Lateral Group, a move the group says will create "a centre of excellence around sheetfed" at its Nottingham operation.

And last week, Alderson Print Group revealed it is in the process of a major restructure of its businesses, following the departure of a number of key figures. The Surrey business is reorganising, with individual divisions being consolidated and a focus on complementing its print offering.

But what is the ideal format for a modern, medium-sized printer? Is focusing on the manufacturing side of the business the key to success? Or is a shift to a more service-oriented approach necessary to remain a thriving enterprise?

Sam Neal, managing director of Middlesex-based Geoff Neal Litho, which was last month recognised for the high calibre of its direct mail production with its latest PrintWeek Award, says a modern medium-sized printer is "lean and mean" and very much focused on what it wants to be in order to offer the best possible service to customers.

He stresses that attempting to be all things to all people, no longer cuts the mustard. "That may have worked 10 or 15 years ago, but no longer. You just have to look at the industry, the businesses that are thriving are the ones have found their calling, stuck to it, and are succeeding within that field," he adds.

Tyrone Spence, chief executive at BCQ Group adds that the company should look "modern, clean and welcoming" to all its stakeholders.

"Our industry is in the manufacturing sector, but it requires a first-class service approach to meet the demands of our clients."

Sales growth
And that approach has worked for the 60-staff business, with direct mail accounting for half of its sales and the rest stemming from its commercial business and high-end brochures production. Sales have grown steadily from £5.5m in 2006 through to £9.6m this year.

Neal adds: "If you are active and put the effort in, the client will appreciate that. Sometimes our prices will be higher than other companies’, but there is a good reason for that and customers recognise this."

Printing.com is another, albeit very different, success story of UK print, but chief executive Tony Rafferty counter’s Neal focused approach and says a medium-sized printer needs to take "a holistic view" of the market.

According to Rafferty, while the group previously made half of its revenue from printing and half from intellectual property, it now makes almost all of its turnover from intellectual property, such as software, online systems and enterprise systems. Despite a clear division in revenue streams, Rafferty doesn’t view his business as separate entities.

"I don’t think like that. In footballing terms it’s like saying defenders can’t move up the pitch or midfielders can’t change position. That’s too static an approach, you need movement in people. It’s better to focus on innovation rather than imposing a rigid structure," he says.

Michael Burman, managing director of forward-thinking digital printer FE Burman says a service-specific focus is a way for print businesses to succeed. "It needs to be a business based on partnership with clients, providing advice and support, which will lead, hopefully, to manufacturing. Essential to being perceived as adding advice and support is to be able to provide a wide range of communication solutions, of which print is just one," he adds.

Spence agrees. "We believe it is more efficient to operate on a divisional basis, so each division can be monitored and measured," he says.

According to Spence, having all facilities in-house may be perceived as an advantage in the clients’ eyes and helps keep control of the manufacturing process.

Neal echoes this, but adds: "This is not to say that there is no place for niche companies in this industry. A strong group mentality is important in helping the modern medium-sized printer succeed in UK print.

"We don’t want to become a £50m-turnover business through buying other businesses, as I believe that you can lose your identity that way. Instead, we have a large number of companies that we call upon when we need to, and vice-versa, to broaden our services."

One thing that is clear is that printers are having to evolve to maintain their relevance in the modern media landscape. Delving into software development, expanding into cross-media services or moving upstream into design and content management are just three ways of doing this, but the end-goal – to maintain or grow margins – will always be the same.

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READER REACTION
What should the modern medium-sized printer look like?

Simon Moore
Managing director,
Eclipse Colour Print
"I don’t think there’s a wrong or right way to position a business, it is fine to be a straightforward manufacturer as long as you adopt industrial practices where you can make a profit. However, excellent customer service and sensible prices should be a given. It’s not essential to offer a wider range of services. A number of commoditised printers are doing well, but what tends to set them apart is that they are well invested, customer-focused, product-driven and offer value for money. And they can adapt to change."

Ben Moss
Commercial director,
McKenzie Clark
"In this market a printer needs to offer added-value services. We are finding that clients aren’t asking what kit we have, they are asking what projects we have worked on and so I think the businesses that are going to be continually squeezed are the commodity printers. Next year is going to be a boom year for print with the Olympics, the European Championships and the Queen’s Jubilee, but 2013 will be right back to reality and a lot of printers will go to the wall. It’s vital for printers to have a strategy in place and I’m not sure that enough of them have one."

Chris Bowen
Chief executive,
Taylor Bloxham
"A medium-sized manufacturing business has got to be service-driven. It’s not just about selling print any more, there are many different channels available. As a business you have to understand what customers want – whether that’s litho or digital print, websites, email campaigns or apps. Having the business structured in different divisions helps to focus the efforts of the sales team and makes it easier to measure performance. There is a risk of not quite being in control if you don’t have your business set up that way."