Printing Outlook is the BPIF's quarterly printing industry trends survey, compiled primarily from an online survey of BPIF members. It covers topics such as: your top business concerns, orders, output, price levels, capacity, costs, margins, investment, pay reviews, productivity, late payment and payment terms, public sector procurement, Web-to-print and paper & board prices and supply.
We are very pleased to continue our partnership with Canon, we'd like to thank Canon for their support - this will ensure all survey respondents receive a printed copy of Printing Outlook.
As well as reporting on the BPIF's latest quarterly survey of trends in the printing industry, Printing Outlook now incorporates:
- UK headline economic data
- CBI forecasts and assessment
- Paper and board consumption statistics from the Confederation of Paper Industries (CPI) and sector insight from EMGE (paper industry consultants)
- Printing Ink sales volumes and values from the British Coatings Federation (BCF)
- Energy sector commentary from Schneider Electric
- Insolvency statistics for the printing sector
- Advertising sector data and analysis from the Advertising Association / Warc Expenditure Report and the IPA Bellwether Report
Printing Outlook is widely reported in the trade press, and feeds into the Bank of England and their provision of data to the Monetary Policy Committee. It is required reading for many suppliers to and investors in the industry, and is used by the BPIF to help represent the interests of our industry to other trade associations, the CBI, Government and the European and worldwide printing industries.
BPIF members can download the full report below; Printing Outlook press releases are available here.
OUTPUT AND ORDER GROWTH SLOW AND STEADY IN Q2 AS CONFIDENCE REMAINED IN THE DOLDRUMS - EXPECTATIONS REMAIN POSITIVE FOR A STRONGER PICK-UP IN Q3
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. The forecast was for stronger growth to come through in Q2, but now that the BPIF has published its latest Printing Outlook report (for Q3 2024) that expectation has been downgraded slightly, and rolled over, into Q3. However, we have now had three consecutive quarters of growth, and the improvement is expected to accelerate in Q3.
Wage pressures, linked to historically high inflation and the knock-on effect of maintaining wage differentials connected to the hike in national minimum wage levels has continued to have a significant impact on companies in the latest survey - as most concluded their pay reviews in Q2. A difficulty in finding suitably skilled labour has also contributed to the wage pressure.
Industry competitiveness is fierce - companies pricing below cost (or the perception that some are doing so) has become the top ranked business concern. However, controlling costs, researching new markets, and putting efforts into driving sales are all key target areas for companies that are striving to improve their profitability.
The BPIF Printing Outlook Q3 2024 report features sections on industry turnover, business concerns, costs, pay reviews, paper and board, and much more.
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