Business

Looking beyond the Covid-19 pandemic, Walter Hale highlights some good habits - and principles - that can help you manage cash more effectively as you enter the new normal. 

Wondering when it will be ‘back to business’? Isn’t everyone. There can’t be a single print operation that has not been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, nor can there be a single way of coming out the other side as fit as before, but is there a case for what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger? I asked ImageCo MD and Fespa UK board member Nathan Swinson-Bullough for his take 

Training is a bugbear to many a large-format print provider - many companies citing issues such as irrelevant apprenticeship schemes as problematic for the sector. So, with the BPIF the largest supplier of apprenticeships to the UK printing industry, I went to talk with Karly Lattimore, the federation’s managing director of training, on how this sector can be better served. 

Or does it? If you use contractors you need to be aware of changes taking place from 6 April regarding IR35. Luke Menzies, director of Menzies Law, explains.

‘Skills shortage’ is something we’re hearing a lot about – the blame frequently blamed on Brexit. But with this shortage applying to mainstream job roles - such as electricians and mechanics - where does that leave an industry that requires a more niche skillset? Paula Thirkell of Ambitions personnel steers you in the right direction.

Every company would like to be more creative, which is why there is no shortage of books offering advice on the topic. Yet too many managing directors aren’t sure how to ignite the creative spark in their businesses. But in a rapidly changing, digitally driven, economy we need to get used to the idea that ‘no normal’ is the ‘new normal’ and behave accordingly. 

Nicole Spencer, operations director at trade house RMC Digital Print in Hull, became president of the Fespa UK Association last autumn - the first woman to do so. In the run up to Fespa Global 2020 we met up to discuss her plans for an association in transition.

This is the rallying call of Leach MD James Lavin. Read on and you’ll find out what he’s talking about…

The PanaWrap global licensing programme is bubbling up very nicely for its developer. So should you be drinking from that fountain? 

Organisers of Sign and Digital UK (SDUK) are promising “an all new show in a new hall” when it takes place  on 28 - 30 April, 2020.  A new team has been put in place to deliver what they promise will be “a fresh show with a new website, new layout, new features and new stand options”. But is so much change code for “panic, we’re in trouble”? I met up with new event director Jenny Matthew to get her strategic take on developments.

By Lesley Simpson

As mental health issues mount, the Printing Charity is rolling-out a 24-hour helpline. Chief executive Neil Lovell explains.

What’s in a name? Psycho Peacock’s MD thinks there’s a whole lot, which is why he’s thrown everything at the company’s whacky rebrand. Could your business benefit from a similar approach?

There’s no denying it - selling has become more difficult. Suddenly the marketing term ABM (account based marketing) has replaced ‘content marketing’ as the most effective outreach. No doubt a new term will be coined over the next 18-24 months, but the principles will effectively remain the same. So here’s how to get the most out of it according to Charlotte Graham-Cumming, MD at marketing agency Ice Blue Sky.

In 2011 long-time graphic designer David Hyams founded Talking Print - a company that provides audio and video implanted print services. Image Reports interviewed him a couple of years later, excited about the dynamism his services could bring to print and how they could stimulate new opportunities. Over the years Talking Print has grown significantly, with David now employing another two staff and turning over £900,000.  But he’s still to crack large-format print. Why?

By Lesley Simpson