Losses widen to £2.8m at printing firm

Manchester print firm Grafenia saw a 2.5% increase in gross profit over the last 12 months.

Turnover at the firm increased by 9% to £15.96m and gross profit increased by 2.5% to £8.55m.

Losses for the year came in at £2.82m compared with £950,000 last year.

Chief executive Peter Gunning said: “We’ve made substantial progress in a number of important areas.

“Within our company studios segment this year we’ve opened new Nettl Business Stores and we’ve increased sales in our other company-owned stores.

“Our first Nettl franchisees are operating in the United States and we’ve grown our Nettl partner network in every country we operate.

“A modernisation programme is underway at our production hub and we’ve relocated and further integrated Image Group.

“We’ve also made a couple of small acquisitions and have an interesting future pipeline.

“However, the print industry is dealing with the perfect storm.

“Most businesses are facing rising costs, shrinking volumes, falling demand and increased competition.

“Capacity is coming out from our sector, but not quickly enough. Every day we decrease our reliance on traditional print sales, but we need to move faster.

“We own five company stores. One is a ‘first generation’ Nettl web studio in Dublin. We have two second generation Business Stores in Birmingham and in Manchester and two Superstores in Liverpool and Exeter.

“Stores sell websites, signage, print and display to local SMEs who need help with creative services.

“We use our company stores to figure out best practice and to test new things. They are also places we use to train new Nettl partners and team members. “