25 August 2022

Widthwise 2022 - the state of the UK and Ireland's wide-format print sector

This is the 15th consecutive Image Reports have conducted a survey of the UK and Northern Ireland's large-format printers, in the report you'll find easily digestible graphics depicting the data gathered, plus analysis of, and commentary on, all the findings. There are also editorial features relating to key issues identified by these findings.

It's a detailed read, incorporating data from 201 PSPs based here in the UK/Ireland to help you get a good grassroots feel for the landscape in which you now operate. Here are some of the key findings you can expect to be explored in the full report.

It's official - things are getting better. Well, they are according to almost three quarters (73.63%) of the 201 UK/Ireland-based large-format PSPs that look part in the 15th annual Widthwise survey conducted by Image Reports earlier this year. In fact, 31.34% went as far as saying they were ‘very optimistic' about their businesses over the next couple of years despite all the difficulties of readjusting to continued global, national and more local pressures. Only 11 companies (5.48%) said they were pessimistic.

That's not to say all has been, nor is expected to be, wall to wall sunshine. The depressing, but hardly unexpected, fact is that half (50.25%) of those questioned had seen a drop in turnover in the 12 months to the start of 2022, but that's fewer than the year before when two-thirds of respondents had. And this time around 36.82% said they had actually seen a rise in turnover, with more than a quarter of all those polled (26.37%) having logged an improvement of more than 10%. Again, these are much better figures than those thrown up by the 2021 survey.

40% of the respondents to the 2022 poll said they had suffered a drop in print margins since the start of last year. Yet a similar proportion said they had stuck at about the same levels, and a fifth (20.40%) of the sample said they'd seen an improvement.

The findings come from a cross-section of those in the digital inkjet large-format focused domestic professional print sector. Off the 201 PSPs that took part in this independent exercise more than half (114 companies or 56.72%) have five or fewer employees, though eight firms (3.98%) have over 100. 42.79% turnover less than £250,000 while 8.46% turnover more than £1-2m, and same proportion again turnover more than £5m. The full Widthwise survey dataset is analysed and published with editorial comment in the free-to-download Widthwise Report 2022 at www.imagereportsmag.co.uk/widthwise, but for your quick consumption we've here highlighted some of the other key findings.

One of the those findings is that though almost 1 in 10 (9.45%) expect the UK's wide-format print market to shrink over the next two years, two-thirds (66.17%) expect it to grow!

That's not necessarily leading to investment in new kit however. Asked ‘how much are you expecting to invest in new hardware/software across your business in 2022 compared to 2021?' over half (58.21%) said less, though almost a third (32.34%) said more.

Asked how much they expected to invest in wide-format technology specifically over the next two years, the majority (69.65%) said under £20,000, and when asked if they would be buying a new digital wide-format printer in that period more than half (58.21%) said no to that too. Where investment is planned, more than half (51.74%) said it was to increase capacity. To improve efficiency was cited next (22.89%) followed by a requirement to move into new applications/markets (15.42%).

That tallies with what the respondents had to say about their priorities for 2022 and their strategic development. Over half (55.72%) said growing turnover was the main focus. Reducing costs was perhaps not highly listed as expected - 11.44% put this top - nor was focusing on sustainable practices, which 6.47% put top.

Don't let that latter figure fool you into thinking environmental concerns are unimportant however. A massive 91.04% said it was now more important for their company to be seen as environmentally friendly than it was two years ago, and almost two-thirds (62.19%) said their use of recycled/recyclable print materials had increased over the last year. But tempering the situation was the feedback that almost two-thirds (62.19%) said few clients ask for their environmental credentials/policies. Only 7.46% said most ask.

Asked ‘what is the biggest technological issue you face in wide-format?' many said there are none! 22.39% noted ink and media reliability as continuing issues, 15.42% said machine reliability, 14.93% cited workflow/system integration issues and 11.44% colour management.

So, what else is eating the UK/Ireland's large-format PSPs? Take a guess - the cost of supplies topped the list of fear (88.56% cited that), the cost of energy came second (81.09%) and the state of the UK economy came third (48.26%). 79.60 said they had experienced supply chain disruption to their business over the last year so that continued to be a downer, and 40.80% said they thought Brexit would prove bad for business in the medium- to long-term.

There's obviously an acceptance that the game has changed, that it's not going to change back to what it was, and that if you get involved in creating a new game it may be even more rewarding as a player - however large or small.

Widthwise Report 2022 www.imagereportsmag.co.uk/widthwise
Copyright SJP Business Media, Image Reports, 123 Cannon Street, London, EC4N 5AU, UK