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Stephen Timms MPPublishing Competitive Analysis Study Launch |
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| Its my pleasure to welcome all of you to the DTI Conference Centre for the launch of the first major Competitiveness Analysis study of the UK Publishing industry, and one of the largest such studies to be undertaken in any sector. I am especially pleased at the way the DTI and the industry have worked together in developing this initiative, and I welcome in particular the close involvement of UK Publishing Media, the alliance of the four largest publishing Trade Associations.
Publishing is something we all think we understand because we have grown up with and had a deep impression made on us by some of the things that publishers have produced. I was the schools minister until a couple of weeks ago and had some dealings in that role with educational publishers – a part of the industry where, as today's report points out, we have some world leaders in the UK. I spoke to representatives of the firms who published the texts I grew up with and still think of as seminal in my development, and it struck me how much of an almost intimate bond there is between all of us and publishers. Publishing is profoundly influential in the education system and in the social, cultural and political life of the UK. So laymen like me think we know about publishing, but there are some real surprises for me in this report. One of them is the sheer size and economic significance of the publishing sector. This is an industry worth in excess of £22 billion to the UK economy. That is nearly twice the size of the pharmaceutical sector. Publishing contributes £1.7 billion a year in exports and employs over 164,000 people. And another thing that this report clearly shows is that publishing is a UK success story. We have a strong and vibrant industry, a skilled and highly qualified workforce, plus some very strong brands. Apart from academic and educational publishing which I have mentioned, we have world leaders in business publishing and providers of financial information too. The report shows that there have been significant increases in new title output, in advertising revenue and in exports. The picture is a very good one overall, of sustained and rapid growth, in spite of the considerable turbulence from expansion of the internet. The Report I am pleased the report discusses the importance of the industry's profile. This industry makes a big contribution to the UK economy. That needs to be more widely appreciated and PIRA have suggested that the industry takes steps to achieve this. I agree also with PIRA's point about plugging some gaps in the statistics. The study presents some very clear pointers to maintaining and improving its success. The Publishing Industry needs to sustain its growth levels by competing globally; adapting to the changing needs of consumers by offering more tailored products to different segments of the market; and embracing the opportunities offered in the new digital economy – broadband, digital tv and the new 3G mobile services will all present new marketplaces for publishers to provide interesting, rich and innovative content, both to their existing and new customers. I welcome the idea of an industry forum to promote best practice in technology adoption to help illustrate how e-commerce can bring real business benefits. We will be publishing an e-commerce impact assessment soon which will identify some of the e-enablement barriers faced by publishing companies. Initial findings suggest that, whilst 70% of publishing companies can accept customer orders online, only 50% are currently doing so with their suppliers – so there is scope for e-commerce to enhance business processes further. I hope the new industry forum will help. The report highlights how customer behaviour is changing, and how the industry needs to adapt to take advantage of these changes. It points to huge opportunities for publishers to use their core assets in fresh ways across the many platforms and channels available - in PIRA's words to "take the wrapper off." These new product types, free from their traditional wrapping as books or magazines could be successful in both old and new markets. This Report makes a valuable contribution to the mapping and analysis which can underpin a new strategic approach to improving publishing productivity. It makes some telling points and poses some exciting challenges. Communications Bill/Media Ownership There has been important progress already. The Communications Bill, which will transfer the powers of five different regulators to OFCOM, the new single regulator, will help to underpin that growth, setting a new regulatory framework for the converging sectors of telecommunications, radio and tv broadcasting. The Bill contains deregulatory proposals to reform the rules on media ownership. We are developing policies to encourage greater investment, sharper competition and faster growth in UK media markets. So we are committed to simplifying regulation, and removing it where it is not needed, in line with PIRA's recommendations. Deregulation will bring increases in productivity and efficiency that can only be good for the consumer. We will remove the inconsistent and outdated restrictions on the foreign ownership of UK broadcasting companies, to encourage investment from as many sources as possible. We hope other countries will do likewise. For newspaper transfers we will bring in a streamlined and less burdensome regime, that focuses regulatory action on those newspaper transfers that appear to raise competition or plurality concerns. We shall remove the smallest local newspapers from regulation altogether. Some rules on media ownership must be retained to make sure democracy works. Citizens need to base their decisions on a range of different voices and opinions. Competition law cannot always guarantee this, so some additional regulation is necessary. We will retain a core set of simple rules to ensure a plurality of media voices exist wherever there is a focus for democratic debate - at national, regional and local level. Do examine closely the proposals and analysis in the draft Communications Bill. This consultation is the right vehicle for you to influence policy on media ownership and competitiveness. Broadband I mentioned the importance of content for achieving our broadband objectives. We are committed to getting the UK broadband environment right for both businesses and residential consumers, and there are encouraging signs that we are moving in the right direction. "The UK is moving up the broadband league table", said Oftel yesterday. BT, ntl, Telewest plus Freeserve and now Aol are all offering more affordable broadband solutions for consumers. Take up levels for broadband have reached over 600,000. ADSL and cable prices have fallen. Coverage is expanding, with BT announcing the enabling of 100 further exchanges. Oftel is reporting 20,000 new customers per week. Your business visions need to reflect – I hope take advantage of – this increasing availability of broadband connectivity. The new broadband service offered by Aol and Time Warner illustrates how publishers and media companies generally can take advantage of the opportunities presented by broadband and offer something different and imaginative to the consumer. The PIRA report comments about the cautious approach many are taking towards the new digital economy. I hope this recent spur in takeup will illustrate that the market is really moving. It has too frequently been forgotten that, no matter how good or slick the technology is, it is only compelling content which in the end persuades people to use the technology. You are in a prime position to provide this content and so be a major influence in driving our objectives for example in electronic commerce and broadband. Taking the work forward Given the importance of the publishing industry, and the scale of the current challenges and opportunities before it, Government and industry need to work together to drive up its productivity. This Report is a valuable contribution. We see this as just the beginning. PIRA is proposing some 35 Actions for consideration by industry and Government. We won't necessarily agree with all the analysis, although it is an important strength that it reflects close consultation within the industry. We want now to continue our close working relationship, particularly through the trade associations, as we move into the implementation stage. But this is not just an Action Plan for Government. Important actions need to be taken forward by industry and it is vital that those within the industry, especially its leaders, buy in to this process. That is why it is so encouraging to see so many of you here today. I want to acknowledge the very hard work that has gone into this Report, and thank those responsible: in particular, Michael Hancock, Richard Gray, Mike Casey and Susan Sparks of PIRA International for their considerable efforts. I would also like to thank those representing UK Publishing Media, who you will have an opportunity to discuss the report with later this morning, and David Worlock and members of the Industry Consultation group, for their large contribution to the project. And all those across the industry who were prepared to be interviewed, to complete questionnaires, or to attend workshops. The success of this exercise depends on the contribution of those within the industry. I know you all want to hear now what PIRA has to say, so I will conclude with my best wishes for a fruitful morning and I will be following with great interest the actions which emerge from this ground breaking report. Thank you. |
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Other speeches by Stephen Timms MP
(the following are available from the archive) |
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