What’s at the top of your Christmas wish list this year?
A jumper in Pantone’s colour of the year. Which coincidentally is Nettl Green. Pantone have very decent taste indeed.
What trend (business or technology) do you think 2016 will be remembered for?
Aside from the celebrity mass extinction, 2016 has got to be the year where Artificial Intelligence started to go mainstream. Bots are everywhere and I think we’ll see them being used more by businesses in 2017. Some of our early experiments are pretty cool in helping people find answers more quickly.
What do you think will represent the single biggest opportunity for printers in 2017 and why?
Perversely, it isn’t print at all. It’s web. We’re seeing an acceleration of clients prioritising their digital spend ahead of print. Printers need to win a client’s web projects first, then the print follows.
What do you think will represent the single biggest threat for printers in 2017 and why?
The economy. We all need our customers to feel confident about their prospects and to continue to promote themselves.
What’s the one thing that the industry should do more of, or do better, in 2017?
Invest in training to up skills in web design and ecommerce. There’s a convergence happening in most graphic businesses. We’re expected to work across digital, as well as print. Clients expect us to be experts in ecommerce as well as in envelopes. To be boffins in both booking apps and booklets.
What was your biggest disappointment in 2016?
Kylie’s “new” Christmas album only had six new tracks. The rest were the same as last year!
What was your highlight of 2016?
Watching the look on client’s faces when they came to see our new Nettl of Birmingham Business Store. Totally worth the effort and sweat that went into designing and developing the model, when one person after another mouths “wow” as they walk in.
What are your hopes for 2017?
That we continue to find like-minded folk to join our Printing.com and Nettl networks and help us grow together.
What was the best piece of advice you have ever been given?
Something our first chairman used to say, “hope for the best and plan for the worst.”
What was the most important thing that you learnt in 2016?
When times get tough, like during the aftermath of the EU referendum, realising people like a reassuring cuddle and take comfort in ‘group therapy’. Knowing they’re not in business alone and being able to talk things through with peers is very necessary.
What if anything will you do differently in 2017?
Change gears. 2016 was a year of transition for us, while we put in the foundations. 2017 will be about accelerating the growth of our Printing.com and Nettl networks.
What’s your favourite Christmas cracker joke?
“What time does Sean Connery go to Wimbledon?”
"Tennish”
What was the best Christmas present you ever received?
For some reasons, all the presents I get tend to be wine related. I liked the wine cooler, but I also liked the wine glasses. And to be fair, the wine was pretty nice too.
Are you making any New Year's resolutions? If so, what?
To prove that the local print shop isn’t dead. It’s different, for sure. But to prove it still has a place.
