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| P2P Magazine | Spring 2013
OPINION
Winter
/14
01732 759725
Darryl Brunt,
Sales and Marketing
Director UK and Ireland,
Fellowes
“While unit demand for laminators peaked
about four years ago, the rate of decline
in demand is now bottoming out as the
UK pulls slowly out of recession. An
attitudes and usage study conducted by
Fellowes in 2012, covering many working
environments and over 15 industries and
sectors, found that these products remain
both popular and widely-used. 66% of
the survey sample saw their laminator as
an ‘essential tool’ and 75% said they use
their laminator on a daily or weekly basis.
“There’s been a shift towards larger,
higher capacity machines and Fellowes is
putting investment into the higher end of this
market. Companies are more likely to want
to bind quite large documents nowadays,
and as a result, at least 50% of the market is
products that are priced at more than £150
and it’s these more expensive products that
are seeing double digit growth.
“Another trend which has been
significantly growing over the past few
years is the amount of people now working
from home, with binding and laminating
products now being used in a home office
environment.We expect however that the
best future prospects for the market will lie in
the added value premium commercial sector.”
“A major change that we saw in 2013 was
Royal Mail’s encouragement to move franking
machine users over to smart meter franking
machines. Smart meter franking machines
enable Royal Mail to collect more data on the
types and volume of mail services being used by
businesses, which in turn allows them to make
additional savings. This was denoted by having all
smart meter franking machines switch over from
red to blue ink.
“This data collection has enabled Royal Mail
to refine its business offering. This has been a
great exercise for the industry as the greater
understanding of usage has been influential in
producing a compelling mail business model for
small business users.
“We’ve also seen a trend in companies working
towards better and more accurate address data
usage through the use of returned mail services.
Many firms pay little heed to their mail being
returned to them. But ignoring it can be bad for
business. It can potentially cause bad press (if
repeatedly sending mail to the deceased) and can
also incur heavy landfill taxes if sending out large
volumes of mail which gets returned and eventually
ends up as waste in landfill.
“We are also expecting to see growth in the
hybrid mail market, where customers supply the
letter and mailing database and then it is printed
for distribution by a third party ‘downstream access’
despatching company.
“In 2014, Royal Mail will be launching MailMark.
Few official details have been released about this
yet but it will give users the ability to add more
marketing messages to their mail and it has also
been rumoured that, in time, MailMark users will
save at least a further penny per postage item
compared to the normal franking tariff. More details
are expected to follow in the Spring.”
KevinWharton,
Marketing Manager,
ExaClair
“Company networks and online
storage facilities continue to
improve in terms of their space,
flexibility and security and their
prominence has reduced the need for
physical storage. However, physical
filing is still essential to all offices
and will continue to be so.
“The biggest filing trend of 2013
is that customers have come to
realise that when you buy cheap,
you buy twice. Many are therefore
opting for premium and higher quality
products and brands. ExaClair has
seen significant growth in its premium
brands, with Guildhall sales up by over
20%. In a market that is in decline, this
is positive news and is indicative of a
priority shift for consumers, as well as
an improved economy.
“Admittedly, this has been a
growing trend in the last two to three
years, but in 2013 its impact on the
industry has been by far the most
significant. There has been a shrinking
of the middle ground with customers
choosing between either premium or
budget products over the mid-range.
The squeezing of the middle ground is
a trend that I expect to further develop
in 2014 and it will bring about more
white label or unbranded entry level
products and consequently more pricing
competition between these products.
“Another change in the last year
has been that more and more often
premium filing brands come with
independent recycling accreditations
as standard. This means that users can
buy into green without looking for a
specialist product.What’s important
is that these accreditations are from
independent and well respected bodies
like Blue Angel and the
Forest Stewardship Council
(FSC), assuring customers
of their validity.
“There has also
been an increase in the
number of business
people who require
filing products that suit
their mobile work and
lifestyle. Exactive filing,
for example, is both lightweight and
durable and has been designed with
these customers in mind. The range’s
innovative, multi-purpose presentation
and storage folders reduce the number
of items and weight that business
people on the move need to carry.
“All in all, filing has adapted and
will continue to adapt to the changing
office landscape, which now includes a
prominent mobile business work force.
The need for efficient and compact
storage will remain and the choice of
product will depend on which camp
the user falls into – those who are
willing to pay more for design and
quality and those who buy in bulk and
require contract pricing.”
David Hymers,
Managing Director,
Totalpost
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