The Graphics & Print Media Alliance (GPMA) is made up of a number of industry bodies that represent print and paper businesses with a combined turnover of £14bn, and employing some 130,000 people.
It has called on fresh Prime Minister Liz Truss and her new business secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg to act swiftly to avert catastrophe.
“Without immediate action, viable businesses are at risk of being overwhelmed by unsustainable price rises and a breakdown of supply chain integrity. Saving businesses from the most vicious economic conditions in a generation must be a top priority in cabinet and Whitehall,” the GPMA stated.
It said some printing businesses had seen price rises of up to 600% over the past 12 months.
The GPMA has called for a four-pronged package of support measures:
- A cost containment mechanism to cap the cost of industrial gas and electricity, combined with urgent efforts to increase UK energy supplies for UK consumption
- A long-term commitment to return UK industrial energy prices to the median of EU competitors
- The potential for sector-specific support to ensure that the "good work done by the government during the pandemic" is not undone
- The immediate announcement of a business rates freeze for 2023/24, reassuring businesses that they will not be hit with a further increase in rates that they can ill-afford
GPMA CEO Charles Jarrold, who is also CEO of the BPIF, together with Picon and Printing Industries Confederation CEO Bettine Pellant, issued a strongly-worded joint statement, which said that an unprecedented crisis demanded unprecedented intervention.
“The government’s primary concern is of course helping households most at risk. Yet an unavoidable consequence of unchecked cost increases for businesses will be ever-spiralling cost increases for consumers, potentially cancelling out the impact of government support for individuals,” they stated.
“It was hoped that 2022 would be the year that graphics and print media businesses could move forward and build back stronger: it is now clear that this will be impossible without urgent government action to cap industrial energy costs. An unprecedented crisis demands unprecedented intervention.
“The new Prime Minister must move decisively to save jobs, save consumers money, and save our sector from an unsustainable blow. Inaction is no longer an option.”
As Business Secretary my overriding mission is to deliver affordable and plentiful energy to the British people and to make the economy as efficient, innovative and dynamic as possible. This will be the department for growth. https://t.co/4CWFAypjqo
— Jacob Rees-Mogg (@Jacob_Rees_Mogg) September 6, 2022
Rees-Mogg: looking forward to serving the Prime Minister and country during challenging times ahead
Jarrold told Printweek that he had just returned from an Intergraf meeting on the continent, which had been “perfectly timed” in terms of understanding the situation at the equivalent print trade associations across Europe.
Regarding the situation in the UK, he said: “The government has confirmed that we’re going to get an announcement tomorrow (8 September). But there’s going to be more coming down the line as well in terms of support.”
He also urged firms to complete a new fast-track survey about the energy crisis.
“We’ve got a survey out across the whole sector, and it’s really important we get as much feedback as possible. It’s a really short, sharp survey about what people are seeing and what it means for their business,” he explained.
“What’s clear is that if we don’t see support for business the impact on businesses in our sector and the broader economy is going to be really, really unpleasant. We’ve got to a point where government can see that too.”
Also today, insolvency experts Red Flag Alert warned that tens of thousands of businesses across the UK were at risk of going bust because of the energy price crisis.
