Matthew Carslake, the Loyalty Accounts Manager at Ecoburotic UK Ltd announces the business is to close.
Describing it as the “End of an era” Carslake announced that “Ecoburotic UK is closing down” and “Guess I’m on the hunt for something new now.”
Ecoburotic UK was formed in 2010 and is a wholly-owned Ecoburotic, the office print specialist located in Rouvignies in northern France.
According to their website, Ecoburotic UK has “100,000 SME customers” and “25 printer specialists.” The company replicates it parents’ message “At Ecoburotic, we are here to help you choose the right printing equipment for your office. Laser printer or Inkjet printer, A3 or A4, multifunction or single function, colour or black and white, you will find the perfect machine that suits your needs.”
Hardcopy Shipments (HCP) have seen a decline in recent years. Last November International Data Corporation (IDC), reported the Western European printer and multifunction (MFP) market decreased by 4.9 percent in unit terms in 3Q19 compared with the same period a year ago, to give a market size of 4.60 million units.
This meant the overall market declined year-on-year by 236,000 units, but price declines steadied and as there was a skew toward higher-priced devices including production, the quarter generated market values of $2.1 billion (€1.9 billion), an increase on the same period a year ago.
2020 has been impacted by COVID-19 and again IDC reports that the worldwide hardcopy peripherals (HCP) market declined 7.5% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2020 to 21.1 million units in the first quarter of 2020 (1Q20), according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Hardcopy Peripherals Tracker.
Earnings at the French parent Ecoburotic reflect the market changes. Earnings in 2018 are reported at €30,722,230 ($33,839,379), down 17.5% on 2016 earnings of €37,260,720 ($41,041,280).
Commenting on the performance of the UK subsidiary, Carslake said “Feel it’s such a shame, as 2019 was going very well, with my boss and my input, it started to work and was going to be very profitable.”
No date for the closure was given.
