Under the Company Law Reform Bill, currently before the House of Lords, firms will no longer need to print hard copies of financial statements if shareholders agree to receive information online.
The Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) Draft Simplification Plan, published last month, estimated that the measure will save FTSE-listed firms at least 47m, and possibly more, over five years.
According to statistics from the Office of National Statistics, R&A printing was worth 129.8m in 2004, down from 203.5m in 2001.
BPIF public affairs officer Lizzy Hawkins has already appealed to the Department of Trade and Industry to re-think the removal of the requirement, arguing that electronic reports and accounts could diminish "shareholder engagement".
"Unfortunately, the bottom line was that it would be cheaper for businesses not to have to print them," she said.
She also pointed out that the reforms would be most likely to affect London-based printers.
The Company Law Reform Bill is part of the government's drive to ease the red tape burden on UK firms.
R&A market value
- 2001: 203.5m
- 2002: 157.0m
- 2003: 127.8m
- 2004: 129.8m
Source: ONS/BPIF
Changes to report and accounts regulations threaten printers
Report and accounts (R&A) printers are facing a 50m hit over government plans to relax regulation on firms paper-based communication with shareholders.
