Review of 2019: December

GF Smith was established in 1885
GF Smith was established in 1885

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

One-time Mirror Group chief executive David Montgomery emerged as the frontrunner to buy the bulk of JPI Media’s assets, according to reports... Retired industry stalwart and ‘envelope guru’ George Silverman died aged 72... Glossop Cartons expanded its floorspace by more than 50% after taking on the 2,300sqm industrial building next door to its existing 4,140sqm Stockport production units... Investment firm Blackstone Tactical Opportunities announced it was to make a £100m strategic minority equity investment in HH Global... Gartner predicted that 80% of marketers will abandon personalisation efforts by 2025 due to lack of ROI, the complexities of customer data management or both... Luxury paper merchant GF Smith acquired fine art paper supplier RK Burt & Co... Former Watkiss Automation communications director Jo Watkiss died at the age of 59... Clays was celebrating after securing a new multi-year contract with long-standing customer Penguin Random House... The global digital print market will reach a value of $225bn (£171bn) by 2029 – up substantially from $103bn in 2014 – according to research from Smithers... Kodak and Uteco sealed the first sale of an Ultrastream-powered flexible packaging press, but the details of the customer involved are still under wraps... Multi Packaging Solutions was considering closing its manufacturing facility in Nuthall, putting up to 139 jobs at risk... The Delta Group retained its point-of-sale contract with fast-growing supermarket chain Lidl GB... Charlesworth Press completed its Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) and completed a £3m round of investment in new kit to support its growing demand for the personalised children’s books market, which has helped to turn around its fortunes... The print industry reacted positively to the landslide victory by the Conservatives in yesterday’s General Election... Administrators at Nicholson & Bass were unable to provide a statement of affairs or creditors’ list for the business “due to the non-cooperation of the current and previous director”, in what is a highly unusual situation.