Richard Edward

Richard Edward was founded in 1976 as an owner managed company offering quality print services to corporate clients. The company was a fully integrated provider of printing services and focuses on providing high quality print for blue chip companies, SME businesses, local and central government, educational institutions and health authorities. It also undertakes a wide range of other services that run the gamut from business orientated printing to educational games. 

Despite Richard Edward’s successes, aggressive competition from a major rival in central Europe was posing a serious threat to the company’s position both in the and the continent. In 2004 the company embarked on a planning process aimed at repositioning Richard Edward in the marketplace.

To develop an adequate response to that competitive threat, they required specific information on the competitor and their marketplace. This provided the basis of the brief for the Enterprise Bureau (EB) project and Richard Edward enlisted the help of a comprehensive business review to develop a new marketing strategy with the intent of expanding its presence in central Europe .

 
Under the EB scheme, a university student was recruited to carry out detailed desk research on the competitor and its main markets. Although working mainly on a remote basis there was good and continuous communication between the student and the company. “Our company was facing competitive threats from a major European player and therefore we urgently needed information to devise a counteroffensive. The Enterprise Bureau programme enabled us to undertake critical research that gave us an insight into our competitor and its main markets. The project also stimulated fresh thinking on the company’s entire marketing strategy and has informed our overall business planning”, Louisa Moger, Richard Edward’s Marketing Director said. This helped in stressing the importance for Richard Edward to address certain European markets. This meant utilising the relevant language and developing adequate pricing structures. The report concluded there are clear opportunities for Richard Edward to launch a campaign in central Europe to counteract competitive threats.

The work that was done by the student placement was seen by the company as an essential component of their overall business planning process. It was presented to the company directors at the end of the placement and has been informing developments since. Moger sees a marked improvement in the way the company is now progressing and states, “Everything about the EB programme was brilliant; the student, the support from the university and the project’s final report.”

Since the EB scheme, the company has maintained good links with the university and continues to work with them. They have also said they would definitely participate in another Enterprise Bureau programme. However, they believe the programme would be greatly enhanced if some form of follow support, perhaps an allocation of days post-placement, were to be incorporated into it. For Richard Edward implementation is the key to business planning and they believe follow up activities would increase the chances of the EB report’s recommendations being acted upon by companies that get involved in the scheme in the future.