- After seven years, my time on PrintWeek has come to an end. While I would never claim to have ink in my veins, I will always feel that I am part of this industry and so before I move on I would like to offer this, my 'reflections of a closet printer'.
- Durst has continued to strengthen its UK sales presence with the appointment of a northern sales manager in Richard Bates.
- Judging by the amount of mergers and acquisitions across the print and packaging industries over the past 18 months, we appear to be hitting a peak in M&A activity for the sector.
- Polestar has been awarded the contract to print the French edition of Stylist, the weekly free magazine published by Timar, a joint venture between Groupe Marie Claire and Shortlist Media.
- Durst has launched two new Rho 1000 series wide format printers and an upgrade to its Durst Rho P10 series of printers ahead of this summer's Fespa 2013 exhibition in London.
- Tributes have been pouring in for print industry pioneer Efi Arazi, founder of Scitex Corporation and Electronics for Imaging (EFI).
- Alpha Media Solutions (AMS) has acquired the business and assets of Keighley-based commercial print business Steffprint via a pre-packaged administration.
- HP has announced the Enhanced Color Pack upgrade for its Scitex FB7600 and upgraded FB7500 industrial flatbed printers.
- Inkjet media manufacturer Ilford has announced it is expanding its Omnijet range of commercial wide format offerings with three new professional canvas products.
- Digital pre-press and print pioneer Efi Arazi, founder of both Scitex and Electronics for Imaging (EFI) and father of Israel's high-tech industry, has passed away, aged 76.
- EFI's SmartSign Analytics (SSA) tool for monitoring and analysing the consumer response to individual signs could be "a licence to print money" for early adopters from the signange sector.
- Xaar's share price has jumped nearly 17% to 490p (prev close 420p) after it announced that it was increasing its expectations for the year.
- Graphic Printing Technologies (GPT) has announced that Mimaki's white ink for its JV400 latex printer range is available with immediate effect.
- Printers are beginning to benefit from the Funding for Lending scheme (FLS), the much-criticised government initiative to ease the flow of credit to cash-starved SMEs.
- Tullis Russell has announced the appointment of former Linpac Group chief executive Mike Arrowsmith as a non-executive director.
- EFI has unveiled SmartSign Analytics (SSA), a system that automatically captures and analyses signage viewership and engagement data.
- North Plains has launched the first two products to use its new ConnectR technology, for clients of its Xinet production asset management system (formerly Xinet WebNative).
- Morgan Signs has become one of the first printers in the UK to adopt Mimaki's wide-format latex print technology.
- The 4DM group has rebranded as Eclipse 4DM, following its acquisition by Eclipse Colour, and launched a cross-media division, Eclipse Red.
- While the coalition's efforts to tackle the tricky subject of welfare reform have been filling column inches ever since last month's Budget, the lack of significant debate on the more important task of helping business and getting the economy moving again is indicative of the fact that the chancellor probably did just enough in this department to avoid opprobrium.
