Nigel Toplis, managing director of the Bardon Group which includes the Kall Kwik and Recognition Express franchises, said the apparent lack of government progress since the first lockdown in March was frustrating.
“It comes across as a knee-jerk reaction. It seems like desperation, there doesn’t seem to be a plan, there’s no strategy. There’s nothing in there about regenerating the economy,” he said.
“It’s depressing when you think that we’re the sixth richest country in the world and we don’t have a track, trace and isolate system in place.
“As we understand it, because clarity is not something you get from government, from Thursday you can’t allow a customer to come through the door. But you can take orders online or via the phone, and process orders and have a delivery and collection service. That’s what I’ll be advising my centre owners today.”
BPIF chief executive Charles Jarrold commented: “I fully accept that the government are in a really horrible place, but it would really help if everyone was clearer about where we’re trying to get to with this.
“It feels like they will keep introducing lockdowns when the infection rate increases, and I don’t think any of us can run our businesses and our lives on that basis,” he stated, while acknowledging that the government had taken on board industry lobbying and changed its approach to business support as a result.
“What’s particularly hard this time around is that we are heading into that Christmas period when retail and hospitality do all their business. And retail/leisure is a significant part of the print client base.”
IPIA general manager Brendan Perring said some printers would welcome the extension of the furlough scheme, although it was a mixed picture.
“SME printers will welcome it as they’ve been hurting so badly and their businesses will be better off because they get the furlough back,” he said.
“My inbox this morning was already full of messages from members asking if they can stay open.”
Perring said that printers fell into two broad camps: some had chosen to “hibernate” their own operations and farm out work to trade printers, while others had “taken out CBILS loans and gone for broke hoovering up work”.
Many print bosses have already downsized their workforces and made redundancies in anticipation of the furlough scheme coming to an end last month.
“Since the end of the furlough scheme was announced this is now the third policy that has come int. It beggars belief that we have people making decisions who have absolutely no clue,” Toplis added.
“We are going to continue doing what we’ve always done which is to be as flexible, dynamic and innovative as we can.”
The prime minister will address parliament and provide more details about the lockdown plans this afternoon.
Scotland’s new five-level system of restrictions came into force today, while the Welsh firebreak measures continue until 9 November. Northern Ireland introduced new restrictions on 16 October that will remain in place for four weeks.
Separately, the Covid-19 situation is resulting in booming demand for some types of print, with Precision Proco Group chief executive Gary Peeling launching a new ‘Print Out to Help Out’ offer of temporary seasonal jobs to skilled industry workers who find themselves out of work.
Peeling is anticipating an even-busier ‘peak season’ this year if families aren’t able to meet up as usual and turn to personalised gifts such as photobooks and calendars.
“We already run at full capacity at this time of year and with the possibility of staff falling victim of the track and trace system and perhaps having to isolate, we can’t afford to be without the people we need to keep everything going,” he explained.
Precision Proco Group has sites in Dagenham, Sheffield and South Normanton. It plans to set up a pool of between 30-40 workers to help it meet demand across the three factories, which run 24/7 from the middle of this month to early January.
“The aim is to sub-contract skilled staff, who will receive their contracted rate including holiday contributions for the time they work, with the option for flexible shifts,” the firm explained.
Peeling said the group would also give non-solicitation assurances that workers would not be ‘poached’.
“It just seems a solution that will have benefits for everyone – it will give us the additional people we need and at the same time would hopefully help out printing companies who specialise in B2B products and would normally be quiet during the run-up to Christmas,” he added.
The scheme will run for two months from 15 November to 15 January 2021. The skills required cover a wide range of roles from digital printing to finishing, laminating and binding.
