Page 19 - Widthwise Magazine

Q7. How did your wide-format profit margins change in 2019?
Mildly optimistic Very optimistic Neutral Mildly pessimistic Very pessimistic
58.77%
27.19% 11.40%
1.75% 0.88%
Q11. What type of wide-format print are you currently involved in? (please select all that apply)
Widthwise 2020
Increased Remained the same as 2018 Decreased
wide-format print to become a bigger proportion of their overall turnover (Q6). So far, so good.
However, general business optimism, though not bad by any means, was not quite as high as it was in January/February 2019. Then 42.51% said they were ‘very optimis- tic’ about their business in five years hence. That figure dropped to 27.2% this time around, though more than half of those polled (58.8%) were still ‘mildly optimistic’ (Q10). Bear in mind though that only four companies out of the 228 that responded were ‘mildly pessimistic’, and just two were ‘very pessimistic’.
Asked how they felt about their business’s prospects, more than a third (35.96%) said they were confident of growth. In contrast, 58.3% said they were concerned, though less so than they had been at the same point in 2019! (Q21)
At the time of the survey, with few businesses in the UK and Ireland having heard of Covid-19, it was not one of the ‘key concerns for 2020’ put in front of PSPs. Of those that were, the price of supplies was by far and away the chief concern, noted as such by 60.96% of respondents. The impact of Brexit was up next (37.7%) followed by pressure on print prices (16.2%) (Q24).
In term of business priorities over the
12 months, 46.3% of respondents said, at the time, that growing turnover was their key consideration (Q14). And it seems that adding or extending design related services was once again a focus for those wishing
to do so - 65.3% said they were planning
to add/extend such services (Q15). Adding print installation services was a priority for 42.5% of companies.
This agenda was reflected in the sector’s investment plans. Asked how much they expected to invest in wide-for- mat technology altogether in the next two years, 68.9% said under £20,000 (Q32). Asked if they expected to buy a
15.35%
47.37% 37.28%
Q10. Looking ahead five years, how do you feel about your business?
General banners/flags/signage Posters Exhibition and display graphics Window graphics Floor graphics Transport graphics Retail/POP/POS Billboard/outdoor advertising Wallpaper/murals Building hoards/wraps Textile printing for banner/flags Textile printing for garments Fine art/photography Textile printing for home/interiors Cardboard engineering Industrial speciality (ceramics, metals etc) Packaging Other Furniture
80.70% 68.42%
59.21% 45.61%
35.96% 31.14%
25% 22.37%
19.74% 17.11%
11.84% 6.58%
6.14% 3.07% 3.07% 2.63%
1.75% 1.32% 0.44%
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