18 May 2022
![UK printing industry output continues to recover UK printing industry output continues to recover](/images/upload/news/C91F82CJ77_BPIF_PO_Fan_image_New.jpg)
UK printing industry output continues to recover
But output price increases not enough to offset energy, material and wage cost increases and restore margins.
The UK printing and printed packaging industry has continued to grow in 2022, but the pace of that recovery has taken a setback in Q1 - output and orders are expected to continue to improve in Q2. The Q1 improvement came amidst the lifting of the Government's ‘Plan B' measures in January, following their introduction in December to help dampen the rate of Covid infections. Covid infections did spike in early January but then dropped quickly before a subsequent (but lower) spike in late March. Risks to further recovery remain high, particularly from the cost explosion for energy and materials, increased pressure on labour costs, and the heightened uncertainty linked to global unrest and the war in Ukraine.
The latest Printing Outlook survey reveals that 41% of printers managed to increase their output levels in the first quarter of 2022, a further 38% were able to hold output steady. However, the remaining 21% did experience a fall in their output levels. The resulting balance (the difference between the ups and the downs) was +20, well below the +45 in Q4, and below the Q1 forecast (+34). Whilst the lifting of the ‘Plan B' restrictions came quite early in the quarter, the restrictions did still have a limiting effect on the pace of recovery - as of course has the disruption caused by continued workplace absences due to Covid infections. However, a fourth consecutive quarter of positive output growth means that, for the first time in four years, output has increased for a full 12-month period.
DownloadsOutput and order growth slow and steady in Q2 as confidence remained in the doldrums – expectations remain positive for a stronger pick-up in Q3
1 August 2024
The slow and steady improvement for output and order growth in the UK's printing and printed packaging industry has continued in the second quarter of 2024.
Stationers' Company Elect New Master 2024 / 2025
29 July 2024
A former soldier, diplomat and senior executive of De La Rue PLC , the banknote printer, has been elected as Master of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers.
![Kyle Jardine Kyle Jardine](/images/upload/staff/SKIERP4J15_XUM0UNX4SS__Kyle.jpg)