Business

Over the course of 2021, Richard Clark of Raccoon has been providing this diary on how his business has coped. Here’s his end of year report and HOPES for the NEW YEAR.

Decisions are the lifeblood of a business, which makes it all the more remarkable that we make so many of them in a disjointed, ad hoc and impulsive fashion. The good news, as American billionaire Warren Buffett likes to point out, is that you only have to get a few of them right, as long as you don’t get too many of them wrong. This guidance might help you improve your success rate.

Earlier this year MacroArt appointed a non-executive chairman to help it realign and grow its business. The Covid pandemic having caused so many PSPs to reassess their operations, I talked with MD Michael Green about the value of bringing in non-executive directors. 

Do you know much about the Made Smarter Leadership programme - and have you considered joining it? If you want to mix with business chiefs from across different sectors to glean insight on smarter manufacturing impacts, perhaps you should.

Many employees want to continue a more flexible approach to their work, having become accustomed over the last year or so. Here, law firm Wright Hassall offers advice for businesses experiencing an influx of such requests.

The Covid-19 pandemic has played havoc with the exhibition calendar as we know only too well, but we’re due to see the return of Fespa Global Print Expo this October. I asked Fespa CEO Neil Felton about the show, about the changes that have taken place during his decade at the helm, and about how he sees Fespa developing.

Earlier this year Web-to-print specialist Vpress partnered website developer Making Websites Better (MWB) to bring out e-commerce solution CloudToPrint, promising printers a ROI within days. Sounds miraculous - so I asked Vpress sales director Kelvin Bell to elaborate on this, and on the urgency for printers to adopt ecommerce in general. 

There’s nothing like a new tax year to concentrate the mind on all things financial. Here Compass Business Finance walks you through the most noteworthy considerations.

Peter, your role means you deal with a wide spread of people/organisations, not all of which are within the wide-format print sector, but many of which will impact it somehow.

In the last issue, Richard Clark of Raccoon outlined business since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. In this promised update, he explains how lockdown provided the time re-evaluate and reinvigorate the business ready for the upwave.

With what seems like the whole of life changing at the speed of light it’s hard to keep abreast of everything that’s impacting your business right now, but here are some key issues that need your attention.

In the first of a new series of ‘First Person’ articles by leaders of large-format PSPs explaining how they’re evolving their business, Richard Clark of Raccoon explains how his company is weathering the Covid-19 storm.

The BPIF is looking into the formation of a special interest group for the large-format digital print community. The thinking is that there are gaps in sector information and services that the federation could help fill. Investigating the situation is Marcus Clifford, regional director for the East and South East. I asked him to expand upon the idea, and how wide-format PSPs could help - and benefit.

Covid-19 has knocked everyone for six, but I’ve got to say, the IPIA has been really quick and forceful in its actions. Back in March, and together with the then separate BAPC, it produced an impact statement on the print industry for the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).