Business and politics

'Political situations can have an impact on our business. Generally, businesses might hold back on making investment until elections are over, because elections create a bit of uncertainty. Both the US and the UK market are key to us, but we have not noticed any effect yet. Since we have expanded to many other regions globally, we are not so dependent on one country. We look forward to the outcome of these elections, but we expect the trends in labels and packaging not to change. People will still consume and the trend of digital, short run, fast delivery and versioning/personalization, will continue.'

Wim Maes, president, Flint Group Digital Printing Solutions, and Xeikon CEO

'Global companies such as Nilpeter – with manufacturing on four continents and business in 65 countries – every year face some kind of significant turbulence – be it political, environmental, geological or commercial. 2016/17 won’t be any different – the EU is picking up after almost 10 years of stagnation, Latin America is very troubled by political and financial issues, USA has a very expensive dollar to cope with plus a very different election campaign running, and the EU faces the challenge of an excessive number of refugees from Syria. How will all this effect our business? Certainly not positively on a regional level but working in a global environment, we seek out regions where the industry is in positive development rather than the ones in regression.'

Jakob Landberg, sales and marketing director, Nilpeter

'I recognize the importance of the referendum and the choice facing the country, but it is a shame that with the world facing an economic slowdown, our politicians have decided to add to this political and economic uncertainty by choosing to hold a referendum where no one can be certain what the outcome will be if we vote no. We are already experiencing the cost of this uncertainty with rising material costs caused by the recent fall in sterling.'

Simon Smith, managing director, CS Labels

'It’s not going to have any bearing. In America, there is a lot of talk but at the end of the day it’s a capitalist society, everyone wants to make money and everyone is going to push. When you look at the EU question, the only ones debating are the analysts and the politicians. Everyone else is going to work.'

Warren Werbitt, founder, Pazazz Printing