The collapse of United Independent Distributors at the end of July has shaken up the UK’s print on demand and zero inventory book production networks. The business, along with Eurospan, Marston Book Services and Orca Book Services, is in the hands of administrator Leonard Curtis, London NW1.
The collapse also severed the manufacturing partnership UID had with CB Printforce which was announced in 2021. This had enabled the book distribution business to use the CB Printforce firepower of Canon inkjets to offer publishers a zero inventory service for their books, ebook fulfilment and production on both sides of the Atlantic for up to 750 publishers that are customers on both sides of the Atlantic.
With the collapse of the distribution companies, the printer has been trying to strike separate deals with the end publishers to varying effect. Other printers with the same sort of print on demand capability have also been keen to strike deals with the stranded publishers.
A good number had been talking about alternative distribution arrangements due to delays in receiving payments for books sold and mounting concerns about ongoing commitment from ISP, the US parent company.
The Mare Nostrum Group was fast off the mark to acquire Eurospan, which has provided marketing and distribution services to 200 academic, professional, scientific and medical publishers. Mare Nostrum will direct the print on demand and zero inventory production via CPI Books at the Wiley European distribution hub in Bognor Regis.
Ingram Publisher Services (Lightning Source) has signed up Goodfellow Publishers, which had been a Marston Books customer, for a stock-free distribution model. “Goodfellow Publishers is a great fit for IPS UK,” says IPS UK senior manager Matthew Dickie-Cross. ”In addition to a vast amount of experience in multichannel publishing, their excellent title list is highly relevant to an academic and professional audience that increasingly looks as much towards practical advice as theory. We are also excited to support their transition to a zero stock model. Our fully integrated virtual stock program, Lightning Source, aligns perfectly with Goodfellow’s commitment to innovation.”
There are ongoing talks with a number of distribution partners about arrangements for other book publishers. The changes in book distribution from a print, store and sell model to sell and then print on demand model is causing problems for the traditional distributors. A mixed model where certain titles, guaranteed to enjoy strong sales, will be printed litho and held in the warehouse as before, but most titles, especially in specialist subject areas, only sell in small numbers making these ideal for a print on demand service.
The collapse into administration of the UID distribution business has been blamed on failed attempts to dispose of the lease of a warehouse in Milton Park, Oxford, leading to further administration disorganisation, and failed attempts to sell the business.
US company IPG bought UID in October 2021, at the time the UK’s second largest book distributor, it hoped to benefit from Amazon’s declaration of sourcing books in markets closer to those where the books are sold to improve its carbon impact.
A growing number of UK printers are using investments in digital printing including digital inventory services to adopt automated stock replenishment and print on demand models as well as zero inventory ordering. Senior vice president content acquisition at Ingram Content Group UK David Taylor anticipates further developments. He says: “Ingram Content Group UK combines wholesaling, distribution and print on demand in a service offer to publishers that is unique in the British market. As such, we are in a strong position to help publishers like Goodfellow who have been affected by this unfortunate event. “
The digital first strategy is proving successful thanks to developments in data handling and inkjet printing. Ashford Colour Press for example has said that its zero inventory production model using HP inkjet presses in “an integral element of the 12% sales growth” in the financial year to March 2023. In the 2023 financial report the business states: “The ZI concept will continue to provide a solid foundation for the next phase of business growth, with new customers onboarding and a continued marketing campaign aimed at expanding the book of one concept further”.
