Review of 2019: April

An explosion at the Jiangsu Tianjiayi chemical facility killed nearly 80 people and injured hundreds more
An explosion at the Jiangsu Tianjiayi chemical facility killed nearly 80 people and injured hundreds more

Our annual roundup of all the big stories around the UK printing industry.

Hague Group bought iCom Printworks, its third M&A deal in six months... Webmart launched an online trade print platform with live pricing capabilities, which its founder said was a “world first” for the sector... Paton Brown, which was three years into a five-year company voluntary arrangement, went into administration and was sold in pre-pack to PB Fulfilment... HH Global was awarded the contract to manage the Census Print and Post contract following a competitive tender process as part of the Crown Commercial Service’s Framework... Magnet Harlequin Group acquired Showcard Print... CPI Group was sold for the second time in the space of a year, with Circle Media Group selling the business to a private investor after less than nine months of ownership... Flint Group warned that a deadly explosion at a Chinese chemical factory had restricted the availability of raw materials for publication and UV inks globally... Nine industry firms achieved success in the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise 2019 for International Trade, including Boxclever Press, which won its award after growing its overseas sales by more than 600% over three years... Security Print Solutions was acquired by global authentication giant Authentix... Grafenia signed up its first Nettl of America franchisee...