Small businesses waste £1K a year printing

• Consumables
• Ink Cartridges
• Toner Cartridges
• Business Machines
• Printers

Overview

Published: 12/09/2011

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Cartridge retailer reveals a third of small businesses overspend on office printing

 

A third of small businesses overspend on their office printing, wasting almost £1,000 a year, new research reveals.

Furthermore, only a 10th admitted to "actively researching" printing costs to ensure they are receiving the best deals available.

Of the 89% of respondents who stated they didn't research printing costs, the majority admitted unnecessarily printing 500 documents, including emails, in a standard working week. 

 

When considering this research and that an average ink cartridge costs £28 and can print approximately 1,100 pages, with toner also costing around £116 and printing up to 10,500 sheets of paper, this would mean that the majority of small businesses across the UK are wasting up to £18.50 a week on ink and toner; equating to £962 a year.

 

Furthermore, the respondents were asked if they regularly recycled the office's discarded printing, to which 17%, said no. A further quarter stated that they recycled most of the office's discarded printing, while the remaining 57% cited that they recycled all of the office's discarded printing.

Those who stated they did not were asked if they planned to investigate the prices of printing and recycling options, to which more than three quarters said yes.

 

Ian Cowley, MD of www.cartridgesave.co.uk which conducted the survey of 1,194 owners of business with 50 or less staff, commented: "It is of course disappointing to see that so many small businesses are wasting money on unnecessary printing and not being mindful about the documents that they print. I am sure that many small businesses across the UK have experienced a few financial problems throughout their duration and this is when £962 a year would certainly be very useful."

He continued: "I would strongly recommend businesses look into the costs of their printing services, especially businesses that require a great deal of printing. It is great to see that the majority of the businesses recycle their discarded paper, it is even more positive that that the majority of the respondents who don't recycle do plan to in the future."