More than 150 people responded to a ProPrint online poll asking ‘Do your most recent financial results point towards a better 2011?’. Around 65% of respondents answered ‘Yes’.

Three printers contacted by ProPrint – one in digital, one in offset and one in wide format – all agreed that this optimism was reflected in their most recent business performance.

Melbourne-based On Demand Printing’s managing director, Bruce Peddlesden, said: “My reading of it is that the economy is looking slightly better. I think we will have a better year overall. There’s more activity and more work, and that’s better for everyone.”

SOS Print and Media director Michael Schulz said: “It’s going to be hard work. It’s not going to be as easy as it was in the past, but it’s better.”

Schulz added that consolidation over the past year had led to an industry-wide improvement in pricing and product quality. He added that SOS’s expansion into on-demand printing was expected to provide a boost.

“There are a lot of investments we’ve made that we hope are going to start showing some results,” he said.

Look Print managing director David Leach said he has been “pleasantly surprised” by the number of printers he knows that are “proactively repositioning” their business.

“Many people in the industry have learnt that we must adapt or perish,” he said. “When one door closes, three open.”

Does this tally with your own experiences? Is the worst over? Leave your comments below.

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