The two organisations said they have been in close communication with The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) for the past two weeks to advocate on behalf of the UK print industry.
This has included providing BEIS' Intelligence Gathering Unit with information from the sector with regard to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and what thousands of businesses need in order to remain solvent and retain their staff.
At the request of BEIS, the IPIA and BAPC produced an impact statement and said BEIS has provided the two organisations with an assurance that the statement will be represented to government policy makers as they develop financial schemes to support the UK's industrial manufacturing base.
The joint statement said: “Our industry is the fifth largest producer of printed products in the world, and we generate in the region of £13.8bn for the economy and employ 116,000 people across 8,400 businesses in the UK directly.
“This is in addition to the enormous supply chain that relies directly on the print industry for the majority of its income and indeed its day-to-day communication needs.
“Our members and the wider industry are directly impacted by the seismic shock to the economy and specifically to the leisure, events, travel and entertainment industry – as a huge number rely on the printing of marketing and communications material, which has quite literally stopped dead in the last week.”
The statement also noted that another issue print faces is that it “is largely bought on a weekly and monthly basis as need requires”, and that with “a near complete cessation in need”, lost income during this period will not be replaced, but is instead “gone for good”, unlike other industries like cars and electronic goods where this period might create pent-up demand that will be released once the crisis ends.
BEIS has also requested that the IPIA and BAPC supplies it with information from the print sector as to the immediate impact the coronavirus pandemic is having and what specific support is needed to prevent permanent and wide-spread economic damage.
The two organisations have asked for businesses in the print industry to provide supporting information about their current challenges at: bit.ly/printimpact.
