News

Even though there's still another week to go until it's over, I think it's safe to describe the past three months as print's summer of discontent.

In fact, it’s probably closer to the mark to simply describe the industry’s summer 2008 as bloody depressing.

Even by print’s own painful standards, the number of insolvencies and redundancies has been high and all this after the year started so (relatively) well, with talk of a supply and demand equilibrium and prices rumoured to be on the up – even though the economic storm clouds were forming.

Of course, there have been some good news stories over the past few months, but by and large they’ve been overshadowed by the doom and gloom that has dominated the pages of PrintWeek.

Some will say the magazine should focus on the positive and only write ‘good news’ – but surely that would be akin to, well, lying.

There are no two ways about it: the UK is on the brink of recession. The good news, if there can be any in these circumstances, is that economists seem to think that, while some form of recession is inevitable, there’s a strong chance that it won’t be as severe as the downturn of the early 1990s.

But then how could it be for print? Looking through the archives, over the past 15 years there doesn’t seem to have been an easily identifiable boom time – in fact, the sector seems to have been under continued pressure ever since the last recession lifted.

So, in theory at least, the industry should be as lean and as mean as it’s possible to be, which is why the appalling summer is doubly shocking.

There has been so much blood letting over the past 15 years, it’s a miracle the industry’s heart is still beating. But it is.

And perhaps that’s what we need to focus on when reading of another company going under, that whatever doesn’t kill the industry just makes it stronger.

Darryl Danielli is editor of PrintWeek