The print industry in the UK itself has a gross turnover of £13.5 billion, so statements around print being dead are often proven invalid.
Framed prints specialists Precision Printing, now over 50 years old, and is arguing to the contrary! Having served the print industry since 1966, the business is still flourishing today.
A young man named Clive Cooper started the company at just 20 years old, after he had dreams of starting his own print shop. When an opportunity arose to acquire an existing print business, he did just that – and the rest is history!
The business developed as Clive’s stepson Gary Peeling (CEO) became more involved with the business. Gary grasped technological change, which has defined the company through the years. The other principle at the heart of the business it its customer-focussed approach, putting customer needs before anything else, which has helped them forge long-term relationships with a number of clients.
As the years have passed, the company has seen a number of changes in the design and print industry. The 1960s were all about the letterpress, letters, and short print runs. Moving into the 1970s and 80s, it was more about general stationery and stitched books. Nowadays, orders are made in mass, and as well as traditional items such as business cards, it has moved towards more unusual objects such as USBs and selfie frames.
The Precision Printing team has also witnessed great changes in the technology used to make printed products – and tech that designers create their work, and push boundaries. New design software removes any limitations from designers nowadays, helping them work more creatively and effectively.
CEO Gary Peeling explains how the business (and the industry) has changed over the years…
“Now the printing business is digitally-driven and, when once we had a typesetter or compositor, we now have a software development department and the business is entirely run from a digital front-end, so it’s been a huge transition.”
“When we first started, you’d be lucky to have an estimate in three days. We now print and ship same-day up to 50,000 orders a day in the on-demand space, so there’s been a huge transformation.”
Now the company has plans to move forward, and much of this involves their drive with Where the Trade Buys – a business specifically-targeted at trade printers, providing selfie frames to business cards and loyalty cards.
It looks like Precision is just getting bigger. In July the business will move to a larger 5,110sqm premises, and is also beta-testing a HP 12000 as part of a “double press deal”.