ICSM Printing Industry News: IPIA’s Brendan Perring warns print’s ‘race to the bottom’ on price; mystery over Reflections Print Finishers’ not appointing administrators; and the end for Blackwell Print (plus a list of recent insolvencies)
By Harry Mottram: It’s been the print industry’s weakness for decades: undercutting prices to get business leaving very little margin for profit. Ian Carrotte of ICSM has said for years it is the recipe for disaster. “If all your work barely makes a profit or breaks even or even loses money then one bad debt or a hike in overheads can leave you insolvent,” he said. “I’ve seen this so many times – cutting prices to undercut a rival is the fast track to going bust. Of course the odd pitch to get new work from a potential client can pay if it’s a one off but in general it’s a mug’s game.”
His views are backed up by the highly respected former print journalist and head of the IPIA Brendan Perring. In an interview with Print Week – the trade’s leading publication – he said: “People do often try to go very cheap to win the work. It’s not good – you can always get something for cheap, but then you find out why afterwards.”
In his introduction to the interview journalist Dominic Bernard wrote: “Printers cutting their prices to win new work risk creating a “race to the bottom”, IPIA general manager Brendan Perring has warned, after a Print Week poll found that 51% of printers consider price to be the most important factor in winning jobs.”
No Reflections
There is something of a mystery over the demise of Sidcup based Reflections Print Finishers who closed their doors on 26 February, 2025, with an announcement that they were going to appoint administrators. Except it didn’t - which has raised suspicions in some quarters they are one of the growing number of ghost insolvencies where a firm never quite disappears despite leaving the staff and suppliers high and dry. In an article in Print Week Jo Francis noted that a lot of the kit was being sold prior to the appointment of an administrator while the staff have been advised to contact ACAS.
However the man at the centre of the story Luke Hastings has become a director of a new firm called Renaissance Packaging Limited, and was appointed as a director there on 21 March reports Francis – who adds she had not been able to get a comment from the former boss of Reflections Print Finishers.
History ends in Norfolk
Journalist Richard Stuart-Turner has reported on the appointment of liquidators for Great Yarmouth-based printer Blackwell Print, which closed its doors at the end of February. He penned: “Last month, McTear Williams & Wood told Print Week that Blackwell – which had a history stretching back to 1870 – had seen its margins steadily erode due to external price pressures and ever rising raw material, employment, and energy costs, combined with a high level of historical debt acquired through the Covid-19 pandemic. The business employed 16 staff at its 1,050sqm leased premises in the Norfolk coastal town, with all made redundant on 27 February, when the business ceased trading.”
ICSM noted that the directors said staff had been paid in full along with their pension contributions – but despite a management buy out in 2023 the company struggled. Ian Carrotte said it was a piece of printing history in Norfolk that had come to an end – "another 21st century casualty for the industry."
For more on Print Week visit: https://www.printweek.com/news/
Below are a list of some recent casualties in the industry and the media:
PRINTING, MEDIA AND ALLIED TRADES
ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED
JELLYFISH PICTURES LIMITED 04453713
LEOSTAR BESPOKE PROMOTIONS LIMITED 12525070
SEVERNPRINT LIMITED 01317797
RED NOTICE LIMITED 09127752
UNITED AUTHORS PUBLISHING LIMITED 07279146
WILLIAMS NICOLSON LIMITED 13095793
ADMINISTRATION MEETING OF CREDITORS
MONUMENT PAPER BAG CO LIMITED (THE) 00481099
CREDITORS’ VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION DEEMED IN CONSENT MEETINGS
AMALGAMATED SIGNS LIMITED 02936425
CATO CREATIVE LIMITED 08024009
ES PRESS LTD 15738212
HARROGATE AV INTERNATIONAL LTD 11470078
M & S MARKETING LTD 07760489
CVL LIQUIDATORS APPOINTED
A0 PRINT SOLUTIONS LTD 06800676
BSC SIGNS LTD 12628959
CLEAR MEDIA SOLUTIONS LTD 07739650
FLORENCE MEDIA PRODUCTIONS LTD 11804118
FRANKFORM MARKETING LTD 08599118
HURRICANE PRINT LTD 06136676
LITTLE WHITE BOX HOME LIMITED 07934257
PERSPECTIVE MEDIA LTD 11837661
SPRINTER PRINTER GROUP LTD 10086384
TAN MEDIA LIMITED 07192766
THE LEMON PRESS LIMITED 02597221
TRIANGLE MUSIC LIMITED 12167248
TWIST PICTURES LTD 09776994
VISION VISUAL SOLUTIONS LIMITED 03129066
MEMBERS VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATIONS
ALYA DIGITAL IC DESIGN SERVICES LTD 09424687
CHROMA COLOUR LIMITED 02091491
CARTHY COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED 08485743
HAMBLYN FILMS LTD 10672692
INSIGHT PRINT MEDIA LIMITED 06736188
JUNGLE TV LTD 07252428
MARY ANN HORGAN LTD 09372892
MENAGERIE MEDIA LTD 11436021
ORCHESTRATE MEDIA LIMITED 09017772
PJ PRINT (EAST ANGLIA) LTD 08123808
RA-RA FILMS LTD 04160196
RYAN EDWARDS COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED 07190521
THE DEMON DESIGN CO. LIMITED 03454218
TV EDITOR LIMITED 09401202
WAVE TECHNOLOGY LIMITED 02367698
PETITION DISMISSED
WELLPACK EUROPE LTD 06398419
PETITIONS TO WIND UP
CHANNEL 7 LIMITED 10634036
SAMON FILMS LIMITED 08191153
W G OFFICE SUPPLIES LIMITED 01350592
SECRETARY OF STATE LIQUIDATION APPOINTMENT
BASE-FLOW LTD 11495518
RYMACK SIGN SOLUTIONS LIMITED 05806281
WINDING UP ORDERS
A & S PRINTERS 05745694
EAGLE VIEW FILMS LIMITED 12543033
FOREVER LIVING ORIGINALS LTD 10082328
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ICSM, The Exchange, Express Park, Bristol Road, Bridgwater, Somerset TA6 4RR. Tel: 0844 854 1850. www.icsmcredit.com. Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com