Printweek – Review of 2025: June

Paragon purchased sister-firm Service Graphics from Grenadier Holdings to expand marketing services… Tributes were paid to print business expert Jo Lloyd, who died aged 62… Heidelberg returned to the VLF litho press market through a partnership with Manroland Sheetfed. The new Cartonmaster CX 145 is based on Manroland Sheetfed’s Roland 900 Evolution press… Negotiations between the Communication Workers’ Union and Royal Mail over pay, working conditions and the Universal Service Obligation (USO) entered their sixth week ahead of Royal Mail’s first board meeting under new owner EP Group on 9 June… Marketreach launched a new B2B advertising campaign, Totally Mailed It… Boundless delayed author payments, provoking industry frustration… Feldmuehle, the German paper manufacturer, became insolvent again and sought restructuring… Encore Group acquired Heritage Envelopes, consolidating its position as the UK’s largest envelopes business… Walstead Group was put up for sale, with majority shareholder Rutland Partners seeking to exit… Landa Digital Printing planned restructuring and sought fresh investment amid geopolitical uncertainty… The takeover of De La Rue looked set to complete after the Secretary of State signed off on the Atlas Holdings bid… Workers at Ellison Printing thought they’d discovered a new type of spider – or an exotic escapee – when a huge red creature appeared at the firm’s factory. Attempts to identify the species drew a blank, however, until a damp tissue was placed in the box containing the spider… “Turns out, it was a completely normal house spider… that had somehow managed to coat itself in magenta toner from our digital print room,” said partner and general manager Jane Caunce… DS Smith confirmed closure of five UK sites, including one box plant and four sheet plants… Micropress expanded its publishing wing with the acquisition of MM Media… Metsä Board ended production at the Tako board mill… Paragon installed a large solar panel facility at its Dagenham supersite… Walstead confirmed plans for the fire-damaged 64pp short-grain press at Bicester… Unite committed to opposing the closure of a DS Smith packaging site in Derbyshire… A landmark former printworks in Manchester was destroyed in a fire. The building had been home to the Hotspur Press, Percy Brothers Ltd, from 1902 until 1996… Landa Digital Printing filed for court protection after a cash flow crisis… John Watson OBE, industry philanthropist and former Glasgow label printer, was awarded a CBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List.