The view from Spain: Pablo Serrano Cobos of FESPA España

Pablo Serranos Cobos is set on supporting smaller printers to scale up and strengthen their hand with suppliers. Pablo is Secretary of FESPA España and Director of Kolokia International.

Describe a typical working day...

I live in France but the FESPA office is in Madrid. Every Monday I have a video conference call with my team in Spain, and we plan the work for the week. Then I plan my week for myself in France. I do a lot of work in my office in France as well as flying to meetings and visiting the customers. I go to Madrid once a month. When I‘m here, my most important work is to control and check ongoing projects. If I need more meetings by video conferences, I organise those. I am an association secretary, not a printer, so I do more consultancy work – 50% is consulting and 50% is political, lobbying or institutional work.

What key change would you like to see benefit the industry? 

We have very big suppliers in relation to very small printers. If I could change something it would be the path of the printers. I believe in small companies more – in relation to supplier and customer relationships – than their larger counterparts. They can sell better products. Our sector is full of very small companies, and they need support. In Spain, 50% of the companies have less than five employees. The big change should be that the printers scale up.

Printers are not just printers any more – they are now communication companies

What are the key challenges that the industry faces?

Society is changing, the behaviour of the consumer is changing, and this affects our industry because at the end of the day we are all about communication. There are new ways to consume, and now we have different tools to communicate. Before it was all analogue but now we have digital, social media, screens, and so on. Printers are not just printers any more – they are now communication companies, they have to provide solutions to the customer using print technology, but they have to sell a communication product.

The other issue is sustainability; we have to think 100% about the environment. A lot of machines and inks are now more environmentally friendly. It should be the first thing we think about when we innovate, and it is what the next generation are talking about.

Do you have a project you’re most proud of?

We are very proud of the FESPA Development Fund, which gives money to projects around the world. We were the first association, along with Finland and the UK, to receive money. We used it to create a new campaign to attract more members as well as creating new tools, both online and offline, to help them.

How do you like to relax?

I allocate 20 minutes of my week to meditation. And every Friday I also do yoga. Because my life is stressful, I have to stop and pause, and meditation helps me.