Wide-format Blogs

I’ve noted a trickle of print companies and suppliers to the print sector announcing that they will honour the bank holiday - and more to the point, her late majesty Queen Elizabeth II - by remaining closed this coming Monday. Are you doing likewise, and if so, are you working longer hours in advance to get due orders out of the door?

No doubt many of us are in reflective mood given the passing of Her Majesty The Queen. We can all learn something I’m sure from the late monarch’s dedication, resilience and work ethic. RIP ma’am.

On Monday (12 September) the BPIF and sustainability consultancy Inenco are running an emergency energy roundtable online at 11am. Ahead of that they want input from printers on how you’re being it by the energy cost crisis and have opened a short survey at: https://bit.ly/3KMOTGR It makes sense to get involved if you can afford the time - they promise it should only take five minutes.

Does it matter to you - and your business - who is named the UK’s new prime minister today? That’s it - that’s my question for today! I’d love to get your answers.

Did you know that it’s 21 years ago today since an EU-wide ban on the manufacturing and importing of 60W incandescent clear light bulbs, in favour of energy-saving fluorescent and halogen bulbs and LED lights, came into force? That little fact popped up on my calendar earlier and of course got me thinking about how far we’ve come since then in terms of being energy efficient. Have you consciously made your workplace more so over the last few years, and/or are you currently taking actions to do so?

What technical developments do you want to see? When we asked that question in the 2022 Widthwise poll of PSPs earlier this year the overriding message was ‘none really - we’re pretty much OK thanks’. With Roland having just made available free software updates to improve the output of its UV flatbed printers I have to ask if perhaps this sector is settling for less than it should? Just asking…..

What shortlists have you made this year? With the first finalists of the UK Graphic Awards having now been made public, it’s great to see so many of those in the running for a gong shouting about it via social media etc. To my mind, positivity is infectious - and positive people make for a happier workplace, right? So, I’m wondering if it’s part of your gameplan to put your business in a position where little wins can lift the general mood of those working for/with you?

Speaking with the MD of CIM Signs and Graphics about how a grant from the LEP's Growing Business Fund is helping the company do just that, prompts me to ask how many of you have applied for money to help you develop your operations? If you haven’t, perhaps you should?  

Apparently, August is National Water Quality Month. Not meaning to sound flippant, but at the moment it feels like it’s quantity that we really need to be concerned about. I have to admit that I have no idea how much water PSPs in the wide-format inkjet sector use, or whether the various water restrictions across the country have impacted many of you. Now seems like the time to ask. And to check if you’ve put in place any measures to reduce the amount of water you use?

Be in the know! We have now published our Widthwise Report 2022, the 15th annual independent analysis of the UK/Ireland large-format print sector, which this time around is based on data from 201 PSPs that took part in our poll earlier in the year. Go to www.imagereportsmag.co.uk/widthwise for analysis and insight. We’ll follow up with a Round Table discussion in the autumn - so if you run a print company and would like to be involved give me a shout!

It’s about this time of year, Wimbledon being over, that Mrs Mole starts pining for France. We’re heading down to the Loire, which is lovely - although Mole Jr always complains that it is shut - but not until the end of summer. I used to holiday in France with my parents and my schoolmates always found it amusing that the whole nation went on holiday for the whole of August. Thinking about it today, I wonder if the French have a point. My inbox has already started filling up with out of office replies, and getting any business done before the end of August becomes increasingly difficult.

News that RA Smart chief Magnus Mighall has joined the Fespa UK Association board got me thinking about the value of making such a commitment. Fortunately, we have some very proactive people in the print space that are willing to give their time and insight to benefit the wider industry. If you are one of them, I’d like to hear from you about what motivates you - and what benefits you reap in return.