Printing Companies Not In Control Of Strategies

A study of the UK's leading printing companies has shown that few are fully in control of their overall business strategies.

A study of the UK's leading printing companies has shown that few are fully in control of their overall business strategies.

The survey by business analysts Plimsoll Publishing indicates a remarkable inconsistency in the companies' commercial and financial behaviour, said the company.

Very few of the printers firms planning to come out on top in 2007 in terms of profit and sales will actually achieve their goals, it added.

David Pattison, senior analyst on the project, said: "In today's highly competitive printers market you cannot sit still for a minute.

If you have seen sales increase this year and good profits, there is a fair chance that next year you will not be able to maintain it.

Likewise, if you did not increase sales this year you are going to have to set a priority of trying to grab some growth in the next trading period." The survey comes a year on from a previous Plimsoll study of the printers market.

The company, based in Stockton-on-Tees, is a performance analyst serving the UK, France and Japan.

Last year, Plimsoll carried out a survey grading each company based on how successful they were performing on two fronts.

Firstly, the company examined the market based on companies sales and commercial success and analysed the overall financial strength of businesses, taking in to account profitability levels and the level of debt carried by those companies.

This year, Plimsoll has revisited and updated the analysis to see how the companies have coped with another year of competitive trading.

The findings show that more than half of the 791 companies analysed have changed strategy in the last 12 months and not all of them have done so by choice.

Of the 200 winners last year, 86 have retained their winning status.

104 are new to the winners category, having switched strategy since last year.

Of the losers last year, 77 have found themselves in this less than prestigious category for a second year but, more worryingly for the industry, they have been joined by 151 other new 'losing' companies.

Of the 231 companies awarded this status last year, 134 continue with their pioneering strategy.

They have been joined by another 45 companies, bringing the total number of chasers in the industry to 179.

Last year Plimsoll ranked 168 companies as sleepers.

71 of them continue to preserve financial strength at the expense of sales growth and they have been joined this year by 123 other companies who have switched strategy.

Said David Pattison: "What this analysis is clearly saying is that, in a very competitive market, of the companies planning to be a winner by the end of 2007, few will actually achieve their goal." The Plimsoll Portfolio Analysis of Printers is aimed at anyone who has a commercial interest in doing business with a printing company, said the company.

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