New year predictions: Paul Hulley, Clays

26 December 2019

Print buying

Hulley: "a decade of discovery rather than disappointment"

Clays chief executive Paul Hulley has a wish list item that would appeal to many, if not all, print bosses. He’s also hoping for more diversity in the industry and sees opportunity in demonstrating the different, but growing value of print in a digital world

What’s at the top of your Christmas wish list this year?

Free ink

As the decade draws to a close, what trend do you think the 2010s will be remembered for?

Consolidation – across all markets. And maybe the next decade will be remembered for it as well…

What do you think will represent the single biggest opportunity for printers in the next decade and why?

10 years ago it was said by many that print would be gone in 10 years’ time. 10 years later, the industry has been buffeted and some parts of it will never be what they once were, but the doomsayers were wrong. The opportunity for printers is to move on from fighting the decline in old markets and demonstrate the different but growing value of print in our digital world, capturing that value in markets old and new and reinventing themselves for the future

What do you think will represent the single biggest threat for printers in the next decade and why?

Any obstacle to re-thinking their world and moving out of the past

What’s the one thing that the industry should do more of, or do better, in the 2020s?

We need to make ourselves and our supply chains fit for purpose in the era of “climate crisis”

What was your biggest disappointment in the 2010s?

I only came to print in 2010, so for me it’s been a decade of discovery rather than disappointment

What was your highlight of the decade?

The strength in physical book sales in the last half of the decade

What are your hopes for the 2020s?

More diversity in print – it’s still a man’s world

We can't believe we're asking this question for the third year running: what is your one-word view on Brexit?

Deception