Review of 2017: December

All the biggest stories from the past 12 months.

Time Inc confirmed that it would be proceeding with the sale of its UK arm and that the buyer will not be Meredith Corporation... Moonpig parent company Photobox Group relocated its back office to new premises in the heart of London... Nine months on from the announcement of a strategic review of its printing operations, St Ives admitted that finding a buyer or buyers “is not easy”, and the group could even retain the businesses... Sign and display franchise Fastsigns expanded into Europe, taking on a master franchisee, Maltese business Famalco Group... At a plea hearing at Southwark Crown Court, four of the five former Anton Group directors charged with Cheating the Public Revenue submitted pleas, including some guilty pleas, with a trial for the remaining charges set for November 2018... Communisis appointed a new chief financial officer “to help deliver the next phase of the company’s growth”... Advent International completed its purchase of Williams Lea Tag and hinted at potential acquisitions... Royal Mail and the CWU appeared to be making progress on worker pay and pensions, which had been the cause of vote to strike in October, after working with a mediator. A Royal Mail report stated: “Royal Mail and the CWU are continuing talks with the aim of reaching agreement on the full range of issues under discussion”. A statement on the CWU’s Facebook page described the agreement as “historic”... Paper producer Sappi signed an agreement to acquire the speciality paper business of Cham Paper Group Holding for £110m... PrintWeekLive! won the ‘Best Event Launch (B2B)’ gong at the 2017 PPA Connect Awards... Xerox robustly defended its performance in response to a move by activist investor Carl Icahn to make changes to the group’s board. Icahn later published an open letter to shareholders calling for the removal of CEO Jeff Jacobson... It was confirmed on 14 December that a liquidator had finally been appointed at Stones Ashford... ID card company Digital ID has acquired The Smart Card Store...