What positives are you able to draw on from the experiences of 2024?
I’ll talk from a UK perspective about the Solopress brand. For us 2024 has been a record year in terms of profits and sales, building on 2023 which was also a record in our history. We’ve continued to prioritise our team, and from the positive culture we’ve created we then prioritise the customer and this has really been paying off. That said, we have noticeably seen things slowing down in the last month or so as consumer and business confidence has taken a hit, we hope this will be short lived.
What trend (business or technology) do you think has dominated 2024?
I’ve spent 5 minutes trying not to say AI… …but sadly I’m going to let you down and stick with my first thought: AI.
What do you think will represent the single biggest opportunity for printers in 2025 and why?
It has to be the same, AI. There is no doubt in my mind we are set to see the biggest disruption ever experienced, naturally this will have a huge impact on our industry. Figuring out how to harness it will be the biggest opportunity ahead.
What are your hopes for 2025?
I would love a little more political stability both locally and globally. I would also like some pro business decisions to be made that can help us all thrive a little more.
What piece of advice do you wish you had been given in December 2023 to prepare you for the year you’ve just had?
That the election would be happening in July and not November as we’d planned for. That caused us a major headache
What was your word or phrase of the year in 2024?
Stuck record here... ...AI
What, if anything, will you do differently in 2025?
Probably not a lot, I suspect it may be more of the same
What did you think of Drupa 2024?
I loved it, so good to see how vibrant things still were. For me it’s a fantastic opportunity to see all the technology on the market in just a few days, which helps to cut down the decision-making process. Long may it continue!
What’s your favourite Christmas cracker joke?
Surely there aren’t favourite’s….they’re all so bad, they’re just bad.
Sprouts, yes or no?
Nope, nope, nope.
Are you making any New Year's resolutions? If so, what?
I’m bound to have some come the 1st Jan…..they’ll all be forgotten by Feb at the latest. Merry Christmas everyone!
