Features

Love them or loathe them, trade exhibitions have been serving the wide-format digital print sector since its inception. But are they the best way forward for visitors - and for exhibitors? Berni Raeside-Bell, a pr and marketing professional and also a digital print textile designer, raises the question.

While it expands its product offering and extends its markets Mimaki engineering is also undergoing an internal transition, so will that impact its professional large-format graphics customer-base?

Is yours one of those businesses that is concentrating less on the environment and more on turnover? If so, it may need to adjust its focus as Walter Hale explains.

News of an MBO at North-East-based Simpsons Group came in February. The move saw well-known chairman Mark Simpson and his shareholding brother and sister exit the business formed in 1972 by Bill Simpson. Bill McNally (MD) and John Quinn (finance director) have stayed on to “lead the new management team through a period of transition” but in August the new management team takes over. So how will an MBO affect what was a family business? I asked new commercial director Mark Jerrard.

By Lesley Simpson

What’s having the greatest impact on your business at the moment?

Digital Tyger is really one-man-band Chris Pitts. He doesn’t print, but he works with those that do - and with customers they might not otherwise reach - to deliver creative printed interiors. But could closer working relationships extend that market?

The 2018 Widthwise report on the state of the UK/Ireland’s wide-format print sector will be published alongside the next issue of image reports. But we thought you’d like a heads-up on the key findings ahead of the key trade shows, where so many investment decisions will be made. Or will they?

Wondering about employing a mentor and how to get the best out of them? Colin Thompson, managing partner at Cavendish academy and long time mentor, explains how to do just that.

Will you be driving to Birmingham for Sign and Digital UK or flying to Berlin for Fespa Global Print Expo 2018? We bring you the low-down on both to help you make the call.

The first of Durst’s new p5 printers is due to start shipping. So what’s so novel about this technology?

When it comes to digital transformation of your business, are you at the cutting edge or merely sitting on the ledge? Have you even begun to ask yourself what your business needs to do to remain competitive in a more automated world? Jan De Roeck, director solutions managment, Esko, challenges you to think, digitise, automate, connect.

Software development is where it’s at in large-format. So who’s doing what? Simon Creasy investigates.