More than half of European print shops were flat or down on revenue in the 12 months from 1 January – 31 December 2021 according to a new report from Roland DG. Its study – of 1,300 print shop owners across the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain – showed that only a third reported turnover increases in the period. However, nearly half of those surveyed were projecting a modest or significant increase in revenue in 2022. Less than a quarter (24%) expected trading to be flat, and just 14% were expecting a decline.
“Although the industry is still navigating a tough, complex trading environment, the steady return of key industries such as travel, tourism and hospitality after Covid is clearly having a positive impact on confidence levels,” said Roland DG EMEA marketing director Stephen Davis.
When asked about their key business objective in the next three years, a third (30%) of those polled were setting their sights on increasing production capability and a quarter (27%) were exploring some sort of expansion opportunity.
Another group of print shops are focused on seizing the opportunities created by advances in fabric printing such as DTF and DTG (11%), UV printing (11%) as well as entering new markets with existing devices (10%).
The study also quizzed print shops about the long-term impact of Covid-19, revealing sharp differences of opinion across the sector. A third (37%) believed that printing would return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2022, a third (30%) said it would take three years, and a quarter (24%) were reserving judgement.
