The cost of living hits printing
The current cost of living crisis has affected people and businesses alike with many aspects of our business here at Stag Print seeing increased costs.
Paper prices for one had started increasing post Brexit, but really accelerated during Covid. In the past few years, one of the main boards we buy has seen a 61% increase from £98 per 1000 sheets in December 2019 to £158 per 1000 sheets in October 2022.
This has been largely driven by supply constraints; Covid and the lockdowns caused paper mills to shut down, global board production has been impacted by the availability of pulp, and many companies saw the shortages so bought stock in advance which impacted the general supply. But that is not all, consumables that we use for manufacturing, such as ink and plates, continue to increase in price at about 15-20% per annum. Collectively, this delivers a heavy blow to print businesses like ours.
The bigger picture
Businesses, like households, are also struggling with the ongoing energy crisis. In January 2022 we were up for renewal on our energy contract, with our existing supplier offering us a rate three times higher than we were paying before. After shopping around, we secured a rate that was double but we had to lock into a three-year contract. Given the recent turmoil in the energy markets, in hindsight that feels like a good result for us in the end.
All hands on deck
Added to all this is the lack of availability of staff: something employers of all sizes in all sectors are seeing. Here at Stag Print specific technical production roles are becoming particularly difficult to fill. This summer, when we were searching for new team members, our junior marketing role received more than five times as many applications as our junior machine operating role. With a lot of work on our books and too few people to complete it, struggling to recruit is proving to be one of our biggest challenges. Thankfully, we have a strong and dedicated team willing to put in the hours to meet our customer requirements.
What does the future hold
It’s hard to predict what the future holds. Sushil Patel, our managing director adds: “With a 40-year heritage, Stag Print has seen many highs and lows so we are confident we will weather the storm. However, the print material and energy cost hikes and chronic shortages of labour are chilling. These are testing times for many industries, and the print industry is no exception.”