ICSM Credit Print Industry News: Question mark over The Print Show; Print Week lists dodgy goings on; how is the trade press doing; and listed: more printers go bust

The print industry has been under pressure for years as the internet has caused a decline in the sector as ink on substrate is replaced by websites and emails. Covid-19 has accelerated that decline as people can’t shop as normal for newspapers, pick up leaflets and brochures - and the clients of printers are hit by a drop in revenue.

Dodgy goings on

The printing and allied industries has a wide variety of press coverage with an increasing overlap from publishers interested in packaging and label printing. Print Week has for a generation been the go-to publication for the sector. Their editorial team have listed some of their most read stories on their website and in their own words it’s something of a list of dodgy goings one. The top story concerned a group of forgers in Beckenham in Kent who were jailed for conspiring to print £12m of bank notes in 2019. Next up was the was now infamous haircut of a print company director who was disqualified for nine years for not paying VAT. It was Jasvir Singh Dhillon's mullet haircut which caught the eye of more than one reader - with one comment being he should have done two years for that haircut. The convicted director of Deluxe Printers Ltd of London didn't go to jail despite the huge amounts involved.

However there was some good news in Print Week with trade printers picking up work that would normally go to Europe, but due to the Brexit trade deal’s red tape and costs it made using UK printers more cost effective. And another upshot of the Covid-19 crisis was the increase in book sales meaning more printing and publishing work for the industry.

Administration

The list of printers going to the wall is increasing – matched only by the numbers of almost all industries seeing business failure caused by the Covid-19 shutdowns. In the last few days the London Gazette as published those in trouble, in administration or being liquidated. They include JW Brown (Printers) Limited, Paperchase Products Limited, Gentle Gallery Publishing Limited, Jam Marketing (UK) Limited, YMS Design Limited, Design + Print Limited, Green Media Advertising Limited, Pinstripe Print Limited, William West Printing Limited, Plastic Packaging United Limited, A C Cooper (Neg and Print) Limited, Eazy Printing Limited, Odessa Print Group Limited, Retail Print Solutions Limited, STB Printing Limited, Process Print (Labelling and Design) Limited and Souvenir Press Limited to name but a few from a list that is too long to print here.

Trade Press

Calling yourself a printing industry news publisher means you really need to print a regular magazine all about the sector. Print Monthly suspended printing their monthly magazine several months ago and have left it to their website to publish news – mainly by journalist Rob Fletcher – because as ICSM Credit understands for the most part the staff are on furlough. It also suspended the weekly video news along with their equivalent for the sign industry. That means there’s a question mark about the Print Show also run by Link Publishing and Print Monthly as it is slated for this September. Meanwhile arch rivals Print Week continue to publish their magazine and fill their website news section with many a story – covering not just the industry’s innovations and business updates – but the dark side as well with accidents, closures and administrations. Digital Printer also continues to publish their magazine and reading between the lines have appeared to have taken over some of the territory covered in the past by Print Monthly - so some good news from the sector that needs competition. Print Business has also continued with Gareth Ward’s in depth knowledge of the industry dating back to the era of Printing World where he was the editor until 2005. While he continues to write all is well with the sector despite Covid.

About ICSM Credit

ICSM Credit has more than four decades of experience as a credit intelligence group whose members gain inside information about firms in trouble allowing them to avoid bad debts and rogue traders. To join costs less than a tank of fuel - while at the moment there's a special free temporary membership offer during the Covid-19 crisis which gives access to free legal letters. ICSM also has an effective debt collecting service which has a global reach - ask for details from Paul.

For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.

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For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk