BGP is determined not to overexpose itself to single contracts and has set itself a sales limit of £2m to £3m per annum per client in a bid to avoid the problems it had following the loss of BT’s The Phone Book.
BGP chairman David Holland said: “Obviously the company had problems a couple of years ago because it was over-committed. We’re not looking to be too exposed in any particular direction.
“Generally speaking, £2m to £3m would be digestible for us. If it was double that, we would want to think about it and it would depend on the longevity of the deal.”
BGP was forced to close its Colchester plant earlier this year after it failed to recover from the loss of The Phone Book, which moved to Spanish printer Einsa in April 2006.
At the time, BGP had a turnover of around £68m, almost 50% of which came from the deal with BT, which – to make matters worse – was withdrawn at just three months’ notice.
Holland said: “If you have a long-term contract, you require quite a long-term period to look for other business in the event of a different supplier being required somewhere else in Europe. The deals we’ve got on directories now have a minimum notice period of 12 months.”
BGP was joined by one of its key clients, Dennis Publishing, as construction got underway on its new supersite. Chief operating officer Brett Reynolds and production director Robin Ryan helped ‘turn the first sod’.
BGP managing director Peter Clark also attended the ceremony.
BGP focuses on long-term deals as build begins at Bicester site
Benhamgoodheadprint (BGP) has vowed not to repeat the mistakes of its past as work began on its new 25m Bicester web-offset supersite last week.
