Business

As a company specialising in all kinds of portable displays, including banner stands, exhibition stands and fabric displays, PrintDesigns knows a thing or two about how important offline marketing remains to companies and to consumers - despite the digital revolution. But co-founder Mark Thompson also expects more integration between the two as he outlines here.

How one Portsmouth-based start-up is ‘refreshing’ interiors with self adhesive vinyls - and how it could be creating opportunity for large-format PSPs.

How do you manage the challenges facing manufacturing in the UK right now - and profit from them? That is exactly what The Fespa UK Association hoped to tell delegates at its recent forum at London’s Ritz hotel.

In 2016 Oasis Graphic took the decision to dedicate a member of staff and a budget to applications development on unusual substrates. A year and a bit down the line and the company is getting real jobs through the door and demonstrating its abilities to a wider creative audience than ever before.

Planning on getting out of the rat race by handing over your business to the younger generation? Even if that seems some way off, it’s time to start succession planning. George Thompson, joint MD of Harrison Scott Associates - one of the UK’s largest recruitment company in the print, packaging and paper sector - talks you through the process.

For many a year Ipex was a ‘must-attend’ show for printers. But things change, and the last event at Excel in London in 2014 left many wondering if it had had its day. Organisers put their thinking caps on and came up with a plan to deliver a reinvigorated show back at the NEC in Birmingham this autumn. But is it enough? I asked event director Rob Fisher for his take…

Think 3D in the print sector and you think of 3D manufacturing with specialist machines. But StackaWraps provides an alternative 3D printed product one that can be flatpacked as easy assemble kits, a concept that caught the imagination and got the financial backing of two large-format industry stalwarts…

CorelDraw product expert Roger Wambolt with a special thank you to David Milisock of Custom Graphic Technologies for his technical expertise and support provides useful tips on creating print ready files for wide-format output.

When newly married Ed Currer and his wife wanted to decorate their home without causing any damage to walls, he had something of a Eureka moment, out of which was born West Sussex-based surface graphics company Vinyl Impression.

Data Image has embarked on a Value Stream Mapping journey with Esko to make its business more efficient. Should you be applying this type of lean process?

Fancy working three days a week, from home much of the time, and still turning over £250,000? That’s what Justin Murray is doing, having swapped the grind of running Pyramid Visuals to become a specialist large-format creative print co-ordinator.

Do you feel your bank works for you, or against you? Here Rod Whitehead and Helen Sallis of Independent Banking Professionals suggest how you can get more from what can be a vexed relationship.

Given this is a milestone year for the Image Reports Widthwise project, we thought we’d use Fespa 2017 for a live debate on some of the key findings of the poll - which though UK based, no doubt touches upon topics and trends impacting PSPs in the sector across Europe and beyond. Here’s what our PSP panel had to say…

Rising insurance costs might tempt you to reduce your premiums by cutting cover, but then you risk being under-insured. Phil Cowell of IFM Select explains the options open to you.