Review of 2021: September

Belmont Packaging moved to a four-day working week
Belmont Packaging moved to a four-day working week

Our annual roundup of all the big stories from around the UK printing industry in the past 12 months.

Private equity firm LDC invested in mail and fulfilment company Real Digital International, to support the existing management team following the retirement of founder Peter Rivett, while Astron founder David Mitchell was appointed as a non-executive director... DHL sold its UK Mail Digital business to an MBO team led by managing director Andy Barber... Reach became the first UK news publisher to join the 30% Club, meaning it has explicitly committed to having at least 30% women on its board and senior management... London-based free financial newspaper City AM was set to resume its print edition, exactly 18 months after the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic forced its suspension... The administration of Callprint entered its fourth year as administrators worked to resolve still-outstanding claims around transactions that took place prior to its administration... Creditors of Premier Print Group voted overwhelmingly to accept a CVA at the firm after the pandemic hit sales at the business... De La Rue announced plans to more than double the size of its Malta facility – making it the biggest banknote site in the group – just nine months after it ceased currency printing at its Gateshead site in the UK... Fespa stressed that fully vaccinated travellers, including those from the UK, would be able to attend its returning flagship Global Print Expo in Amsterdam in October without quarantine... Graphic design platform Canva was valued at an astonishing $40bn (£29bn) after its latest fundraising round... Xerox confirmed it would continue to sell the Iridesse and other products manufactured by Fujifilm Business Innovation for the foreseeable future... Family-owned firm Kuhnel Graphics fell victim to the effects of the pandemic and went into administration... Belmont Packaging moved to a four-day working week, with all employees enjoying a three-day weekend... The energy crisis impacting a raft of industries across the UK was putting pressure on suppliers to add surcharges for customers of energy-intensive print operations... Delga Press celebrated its 60th anniversary – a year late due to last year’s pandemic restrictions... A plan emerged to revive Timsons book printing presses through a new joint venture between CPI UK and Timsons Engineering... Konica Minolta warned that graphic arts toner production would not resume until November, following the explosion at its production site in August... Print buyers were being warned to plan their paper requirements months ahead, with reports of ‘gazumping’ on previously agreed mill prices and a global squeeze on the availability of some paper types... Whistl launched the Whistl Driver Academy to invest, train, and develop the next generation of HGV drivers for its expanding business... A paper recycling company was fined £75,000 after a worker sustained multiple injuries after falling through a moving conveyor...