Editor's Blog

Yay, it’s December and Christmas is round the corner. Are you as buoyant as you normally are at this time of year - in terms of work that is - or are things quieter this time around? Let me know either way. Thank you

Hear this - businesses are being urged to increase the length of online passwords amid growing fears of a surge in cyber-attacks by pro-Russian hackers. Online security specialist Linten Technologies has said that adding just one extra character could be make or break. “Typically, a 10-character password can take hackers just 26 minutes to break, whereas a password with 11 characters can take about three days,” says Steven Allan, Linten’s founder and CEO. Just thought I’d put that out there.

News that the BPIF is starting a supply chain practitioner apprenticeship in the new year makes me wonder if any of you have a specific person dedicated to your supply chain management. I’m sort of assuming not, but if you do I’d love to hear from you.

It seems to me that the COP27 outcome is two steps forward and one step back, but that’s just my take - what’s yours?

So, today’s the day Chancellor Jeremy Hunt gets to present his Autumn Statement. Ahead of any announcements, rumour has it he’s going to overhaul R+D Tax Credits for SMEs - something we’ve been encouraging the print sector to take more advantage of. Will this impact you – and what are your hopes and fears?

You feeling the print industry’s traditional Q4 uplift, or as the BPIF’s latest Printing Outlook identified, one of those feeling little pre-Christmas cheer given current circumstances? Talking to an array of print chiefs operating in the large-format sector I’d say ‘cautious optimism’ seems to be about the measure of it.

Heck, new HQs seem to be springing up all over the place. What’s your take – is it all about expansion? I think we’ll see a lot more business relocations over the coming months - more to do with efficiency drives than anything else. Will your business be one of those making a move?

So, Cop27 kicks off today, hopefully focussing the world’s attention on the need to act to reduce climate change. With all that’s going on in the UK currently it’s easy to overlook what seems like a less immediate threat. We know we can’t do that - so here’s to putting the issue front and centre despite having to wrestle with all the other issues impacting business.

There are going to be fireworks. With bonfire night do’s back on many a town’s agenda, and Christmas fairs springing up all over the place, it seems public events really are back to pre-Covid levels. Wondering if the level of large-format print for the wider events market is too?

Given it’s Halloween I thought I’d ask ‘what scares you?’  I expect energy prices and supply chain difficulties to come top of the list - but am I wrong?

Epson will showcase its GX4 and GX8 Scara robots at the Robotics and Automation show in Coventry next month to highlight “simple and affordable solutions that help operations enjoy reduced production costs, improved product quality, increased workflow, and enhanced business capabilities”. Sounds great! They’re aimed at the medical, electronics and consumer electronics industries though. I’m back to wondering to what extent this industry, and the wide-format sector in particular, is likely to see wider robotic automation adopted. Feel free to enlighten me…

At the time of writing, it looks like former chancellor Rishi Sunak is going to be our next prime minister. Are you confident he - or indeed Penny Mordaunt, if she gets the job - will improve your lot?

Are you even remotely in Las Vegas? See what I did there - I’m talking about you being at Printing United Expo 2022, even virtually. Worry not if you can’t make it - we’ll bring you up to speed with any crucial developments - see some of the news herewith. If you are there and are particularly impressed by anything wide-format related, let me know!

“What is sustainability?” tops the list as the world’s most Googled question about sustainability, according to a study by the company Drinking-Straw.com. According to its research there are on average 58,000 searches a month asking the question. The Cambridge Dictionary provides a simple answer - ‘the quality of being able to continue over a period of time’. But even it has added in an environmental definition - ‘the quality of causing little or no damage to the environment and therefore able to continue for a long time’. What’s your definition of running a sustainable company?