The retail flyer, media inserts and quality catalogue printer’s board originally consisted of chief executive Chris Ingram and chief operating officer Mike Newbould. However, it has now appointed private equity veteran Richard Connell as chairman following an introduction by the Business Growth Fund (BGF) Talent Network. Connell has worked for 3i, Invesco Asset Management and Montagu Private Equity and subsequently chaired several institutionally-backed companies, including Dignity, CVS, Mercury Pharma and Cory Environmental. His appointment follows the announcement in July that York Mailing had secured a £10m investment from the BGF in return for a minority equity stake. York Mailing chief executive Chris Ingram told PrintWeek: “This is something the BGF likes to see as part of their investment strategy but from the original shareholders point of view is an excellent way of adding significant strength to the board.” In addition, York Mailing has appointed Judith Donovan CBE as a non-executive director. Donovan is chair of the Royal Mail Strategic Mailing Partnership and a former vice-chair of Postwatch; she founded her own marketing agency in 1982 and grew it to over 50 staff and £12.5m turnover before selling to her management in 2000. Ingram said: “I have known Judith Donovan for several years and hold her in very high regard as a leading DM operator.” He added that York Mailing did not intend to make any further board appointments. Commenting on the group’s growth strategy, which recently saw it acquire Lettershop Group, Ingram said: “We are always looking at any opportunities that we feel could benefit our customers across the group but have no specific targets at this point in time.”...

UK-headquartered Essentra, which changed its name from Filtrona in June this year, bought the €15.2m-turnover business as part of a targeted growth strategy in the pharmaceutical and healthcare packaging market. The deal follows the FTSE 250 firm’s £160m acquisition in March of Contego Healthcare, now Essentra Packaging. Dakota, which employs around 100 staff at its 7,430sqm manufacturing plant near Dublin airport, will become part of Essentra’s packaging and securing solutions division. The site produces high quality cartons for the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries in Ireland. “The acquisition of Dakota underscores our ambition to be the premier provider of creative and secure packaging solutions to our customers and end-markets of choice,” said managing director of Essentra’s packaging and securing solutions division, Alison Evans. “Our plans represent a significant investment in our capabilities in Ireland and will ensure we have the best operational footprint and necessary space to meet the growing needs of the healthcare and consumer packaging industries we serve, under our new Essentra Packaging identity.” The acquisition forms part of a restructure of Essentra’s Ireland operations, which looks likely to effect the closure of the firm’s facility in Waterford, 160km south of Dublin, with the loss of all 50 jobs. Evans confirmed that Essentra had yesterday entered into a 30-day consultation with employees at the plant. The company intends to centralise production in Ireland to the Dakota site. Evans said: “It is with regret that we are entering a consultation regarding the possible closure of the Waterford site. It is in no way a reflection on the quality or commitment of our employees, but a consequence of the need to ensure we act in the best interests of our customers and other stakeholders.” Trade union Unite labeled the move “industrial vandalism”. Speaking following a meeting of Unite members in Essentra, union official Brendan Byrne said that the proposal to close the Waterford site had come as a bombshell to workers, their families and the wider local community. “Unite is convinced that a programme of targeted investment in the plant could transform the Waterford operation into a trail blazer in the packaging sector, and we will be putting forward argument in this regard during the consultation period,” he added. “Closure of the Waterford Essentra plant would be nothing less than an act of industrial vandalism.” Essentra, headquartered in Milton Keynes, operates 42 manufacturing facilities around the world and employs around 5,500 staff globally....

Brief Cases, which is open to primarily second-year degree students studying any creative discipline to do with graphic arts or communication, aims to bring industry and education closer together. The scheme is an evolution of Brief Encounters, which ran for around 11 years, and is the brainchild of Veronica Heaven, managing director of The Heaven Company. It was sponsored this year by Virgin, whose consumer insight manager Thom Stebbings sat on the judging panel, together with Heaven and Brian Webb, managing director of design house Webb & Webb and a former president of the Chartered Society of Designers. Entrants to this year’s Brief Cases had to choose one of the following three briefs: Create three stories in a staff communication piece to explain the Virgin brand, taking into account the core values and its look and feel Create a high quality, creative calendar to raise the awareness of The Heaven Company, a consultancy in communicating Corporate Responsibility and sustainability issues Produce a visual identity to capture the spirit of the business-university collaboration that is Brief Cases The Gold award went to Amedeo Spagnolo, a student at the University of the Creative Arts in Epsom, who wowed the judges with his eye-catching, colourful work. Commenting on the entry, Webb said: “This is a very clear and immediately understood solution. The strapline gives excellent clarity and it is a logo that works across many applications, online and print, including letters, envelopes, digital formats, apps etc. It’s a really well thought through solution.” Two Silvers were awarded this year, one in the Virgin internal communication category to Steven Parry (University of the Creative Arts, Epsom) and Jenna Plumb (Norwich University of the Arts) for the calendar brief. Heaven told PrintWeek that the students are required as part of the brief to think about the production element of the brief, rather than just contributing an arbitrary design solution. “We encourage them to think about things like whether its a large or short run project, whether it’s going to have personalisation, and about responsible design and sustainable production methods – considering things like paper use and ink coverage,” she said. “An important part of the process is that they are also judged on their rationale – so they have to think through their processes and present a reasoned case for their chosen solution.” Heaven added: “I am delighted that the scheme has attracted Virgin which is a fantastic sponsor for this design initiative and I hope other companies will come on board to support this initiative in future. “It is a great way to get involved with higher education and helps to increase an individual’s employability potential. Brief Cases is a way that companies...

The Duke spoke about key passions of his, education and skills, and the importance of SMEs to today’s economy. He entreated printers to recognise how crucial taking on apprenticeships could be to the strength of their businesses, and to consider export markets. He said: “I have concentrated to some extent on skills and apprenticeships and trying to encourage young people to recognise that going to university at 18 isn’t necessarily the answer to the question.” He said: “Many businesses look at apprenticeships as a financial risk. How many times have you written ‘three years experience required’? If I could rub that one sentence out we’d be in a much healthier place. You need to put at the bottom: ‘willing to learn.’ In many cases that’s all you need to say. People will look at that and think this is a business I want to be a part of.” On trading overseas, he said: “I have been looking at what makes the UK prosperous and that is that we are able to export and conduct business a long way from here. Trade in Europe is quite small but outside it’s flourishing. I would say think broad, think further than just the UK or Europe.” Welcoming over 181 guests to the event, chairman of The Printing Charity Jon Wright spoke of the organisation’s work in 2013 and its future aims. He highlighted a 14% growth in the number of people helped this year, a record number of applicants and winners in this year’s Print Futures Awards and the extension of the charity’s national reach, with 75% of those helped last year living outside of London and the South East. Wright said: “Last year was a fantastic year for the charity. But we do know a lot of people out there need our help. This is about asking you to help us find those people. It’s important to broadcast that we help people of all ages whether individuals or families.” He added that the charity’s aim is to have helped 2,000 people by 2017. The luncheon also saw previous president Bill Offer added to the list of Presidents Emeritus. On receiving the recognition Offer said: “This is a great charity. I have been so fortunate to be associated with it for 14 years. Yes it was pretty difficult and very hard at times, but a lot of people in the industry supported the charity very well and that’s why you’re here today.”...

Comprising over 125 works from 40 artists and artist groups, the exhibition encompasses photography, sculpture, video and works on paper and includes early examples of ‘copy art’ and ‘mail art’. Highlights include Mel Bochner’s ‘Working Drawings’ and ‘Other Visible Things on Paper Not Necessarily Meant to be Viewed As Art’, as well as works by Barbara T Smith made using a hired Xerox 914. Xerox UK managing director Darren Cassidy said: “Xerography has always been about pushing the boundaries of innovation and this exhibition is a visual embodiment of that very idea. “It’s astounding to see the inspiration that has been born out of this invention. With 23 new patents awarded every week we’re certain that the next 75 years will lead to as many creative developments as the last 75.” The exhibition is open to the public until 10 November....