Am more than a little surprised – and intrigued – at news of David Holland’s retirement from Goodhead Group. Okay, so he’s 65. But there was really no hint of him hanging up his Powerpoint OEE charts at the firm’s recent supplier briefing. David was of course the architect of Sir John Madejski’s mega-investment of circa £100m in reinventing the BGP web offset site. When PrintWeek interviewed Sir John back in the summer of 2010, his fortitude, long-term vision and firm belief that the business would come good was absolutely rock solid. Two-and-a-bit-years on, the business is certainly in a better position, and it’s producing some really nice work as evidenced by the PrintWeek Award for Consumer Magazine Printer of the Year. The numbers are at last going in the right direction, but still nowhere near those predictions made by the erstwhile CEO. It seems odd that he's gone in the midst of unfinished business. All of which begs the question, what next for Sir John’s Goodhead project? After keeping the faith for so long, has this most forbearing of knights finally run out of patience? Or has he run out of something else? Talk of mystery visitors at the Bicester plant makes me convinced something is afoot. I wonder whether the much-speculated upon further consolidation play in web offset might just be upon us.
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