What do you think will the greatest opportunity for and threat to printers next year?
The greatest threat will be surviving in a business climate that has been permanently changed as a consequence of this recession, or rather the lending and credit crisis that caused it in the first place. The past year has been characterised by the removal, or highly restrictive cost, of bank lending facilities and this is sent to continue into 2010. There is now a 'new normal' setting in: an environment less compatible or helpful than the one we knew pre-recession, with bad debt levels on the rise and credit lines tightened. This will be the theme of our fourth Finance and Investment Conference, to be held on 2 February 2010 at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.
 
The greatest opportunity will be for printers to continue to evolve from being specialists in ink on paper into broad-based integrated marketing solutions providers offering a comprehensive range of multi-channel communications solutions. Many printers now lead the way in offering cross-media services and are profiting as a consequence. There is scope for many more to join them. Printers have been moving text and graphics around electronically for decades now, and delivering exciting campaigns and promotional products has always been at the heart of what print businesses offer. That's why we launched dotain.org earlier this year – to support our industry in the next phase in its natural evolution
 
What do you believe is the most under-recognised aspect in printing that is likely to become more important in 2010?
Print needs to be constantly reminding its customers that it has a great environmental story to tell. With so much anti-paper propaganda out there – largely based on myths and misconceptions – it’s vital that people understand that paper is a sustainable product that comes from renewable sources and we all need to do our bit to help spread the message. I’d like to see more printers getting involved in the Two Sides initiative (www.twosides.info), which promotes the environmental credentials of print and paper. For a nominal membership fee you get access to information on emerging sustainability issues and the challenges the industry is facing. You can also use the Two Sides logo and intellectual property to demonstrate that your company is taking a proactive approach to responsible business practices, which helps show customers that you’re serious about sustainability.
 
How important do you think Ipex will be?
Crucially important. Print will be under continuing pressure to hold down costs and to improve quality and turnaround times still further. This will require ongoing investment in new equipment in order to be able to reduce costs and optimise efficiency. Of course, improving environmental performance will be vital too, as our industry’s clients increasingly need to be able show that their suppliers have played their part in reducing the carbon footprint of their products. Access to finance will continue to prove difficult in 2010 and only investments with a watertight business case showing a high and sustained ROI are likely to gain funding.
 
What can the industry do to increase its profile next year?
Print’s share of total advertising budgets has been falling but as the world emerges from recession and advertising budgets are increased, brand owners will want to get maximum value for their advertising spend. We need to get across to media specifiers that print media can demonstrate real effectiveness in return on advertising spend and that, pound for pound, print offers a ‘better bang for your buck’. I’m delighted that pulp and paper producers and paper merchants are now collaborating at a European level to orchestrate this message loudly. Two Sides will manage this campaign in the UK, enabling the delivery of coordinated and powerful messages about print media’s sustainability and effectiveness, and BPIF will be actively supporting this.
 
What will you do differently next year?
In adapting to adverse trading conditions and structural changes affecting their industries, trade associations need to collaborate more closely with one another. This enables them to share resources, gain economies of scale, increase product range and value, and achieve greater impact with target audiences. By way of example, BPIF manages the BOSS Federation (representing the office supplies and services sector) under an association management contract, and this has proved extremely beneficial to BPIF and BOSS alike in sharing the costs of uniting common interests and improving the growth potential and trading environments of both organisations’ memberships. There is more scope for strategic partnerships of this kind and one of my key tasks next year will be to talk with other trade bodies about working together for the benefit of our respective member companies.