What level of risk taker do you consider yourself to be? I ask because, for many, ‘caution’ is the watchword for 2017 as the Brexit vote here and Trump’s US presidency really begin to make their mark. In this issue IMI Europe MD Dr Tim Phillips reports on the panel discussion it arranged towards the end of 2016 with key players in the digital inkjet space on how the changing political landscape might impact the sector going forward (see p25). What are the challenges – and opportunities? According to Alex Blackman, MD of British-based cutting solutions manufacturer Blackman and White – himself a staunch ‘remainer’ pre-vote – he now believes “Brexit might not be the disaster we thought it would be”, buts adds that there’s a wait-and-see mentality perhaps holding back investment as we go into the New Year (see p36). Does that sound about right in relation to your business?
We’ve just kicked off the tenth consecutive annual Widthwise poll of large-format PSPs to get a better handle on how businesses like yours – and the sector in general – is faring, and what the expectations are for 2017 and beyond. You can find the questionnaire at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/H63WZWR. Please take part. The more of you that do so the more representative will be the resulting Widthwise Report which we’ll publish in early May – providing a real insight into the trends, developments and business expectations in time for Fespa.
While caution in business is understandable – indeed laudable – there are times when risk should perhaps be embraced if business growth is a serious focus. It’s not just me spouting off – it’s the view of people like Phill Reynolds of Cestrian, Greg Craigen of Amayse, and Richard McCombe of Matic Media – all of whom are featured in this issue. Through its industry leading environmental policy Cestrian expects to be a zero landfill operation by the end of this year (see p27), Amayse “has ploughed a lot of money” into developing a new 2ViewCamCarpets 3D effect sport pitch graphics system (see p20), and Matic Media has defied Ansoff’s Matrix to bring its www.GraphicWarehouse.co.uk portal into being (see p44).
Despite the political and economic upheaval we face, it’s clear that companies in the large-format sector continue to seek out opportunity and progress. Wishing you all well in the year ahead.