The site was part of Contego Cartons, formerly Nampak Cartons, which was bought by US food packaging group GPI in January. As well as the Gillingham site, the £91m deal included Contego sites in Leeds, Hoogerheide in the Netherlands and Portlaoise in Ireland, all of which are understood to be unaffected by the closure of Gillingham. Unite has demanded an “urgent meeting’ with the company, which launched a 45-day consultation at Gillingam last Wednesday (5 June) where the union said it will urge the US owners to “to look at all possibilities for re-location and the best possible deal for the workforce”. According to the union the company is proposing to close the facility on 30 September. “This is a very difficult time for the workforce and they have a right to be angry that they face redundancy. Unite will be demanding the company does everything possible to support the workers affected,” said Unite national officer Ian Tonks “At a time when unemployment is high and good jobs are hard to find, employers should be going out of their way to find the best deal possible for workers who have given years of loyalty.” In an statement, Graphic Packaging International said that it had been reviewing its European manufacturing operations since the acquisition of Contego Cartons and AR Carton and while it praised the quality of the work produced at GPI Gillingham it said that the site did not fit in with its future requirements. It added that it is currently consulting with the Unite and the Graphic Packaging Employee Information and Consultation Committee on the proposed closure. In the statement, the company said: “These are always difficult decisions, but it is a necessary step in the company’s continuous efforts to effectively align and optimize its supply chain footprint. We do realise the impact of this decision on our team members; their families and their communities and we remain committed to providing assistance under our policies to help mitigate the impact of this decision where possible.” The company added that work produced at Gillingham would most likely transfer to Leeds, however it said that business would continue as normal until then. Graphic Packaging is a global packaging group with sales of $4.3bn and it employs 15,000 staff around the world, including locations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US....

PrintWeek understands that chief executive Tony Chard is still hopeful of organising some sort of rescue deal for the stricken book printer. However, any deal would require the support of key stakeholders, including MPG’s banks and suppliers, as well as customers and employees. Paper suppliers will be particularly crucial to any possible deal. The hiatus at the business has now entered its third week. Employees left in limbo by the current situation have expressed frustration on printweek.com’s online forum, as have customers who have been left in the lurch. One author told PrintWeek: “I got a quote in March and sent in my deposit, but they were never in touch about it after that. All of a sudden on 20 May the order was put on the system. I’ve no idea if my books have been printed or not.” A supplier to the group said he was yet to hear any concrete proposals. “We haven’t heard a thing and it’s getting to the stage where we will have to act. The biggest enemy of any deal of this nature is delay,” he said. The group had been expected to go into administration last week, but to the best of PrintWeek’s knowledge this has not yet happened. A notice of intention to appoint an administrator was filed at the High Court by the directors of MPG Printgroup on 6 June. This provides the business with a breathing space and protection from other actions, such as winding up petitions by creditors, for ten working days....

The site was part of Contego Cartons, formerly Nampak Cartons, which was bought by US food packaging group GPI in January. As well as the Gillingham site, the £91m deal included Contego sites in Leeds, Hoogerheide in the Netherlands and Portlaoise in Ireland, all of which are understood to be unaffected by the closure of Gillingham. Unite has demanded an “urgent meeting’ with the company, which launched a 45-day consultation at Gillingam last Wednesday (5 June) where the union said it will urge the US owners to “to look at all possibilities for re-location and the best possible deal for the workforce”. According to the union the company is proposing to close the facility on 30 September. “This is a very difficult time for the workforce and they have a right to be angry that they face redundancy. Unite will be demanding the company does everything possible to support the workers affected,” said Unite national officer Ian Tonks “At a time when unemployment is high and good jobs are hard to find, employers should be going out of their way to find the best deal possible for workers who have given years of loyalty.” In an statement, Graphic Packaging International said that it had been reviewing its European manufacturing operations since the acquisition of Contego Cartons and AR Carton and while it praised the quality of the work produced at GPI Gillingham it said that the site did not fit in with its future requirements. It added that it is currently consulting with the Unite and the Graphic Packaging Employee Information and Consultation Committee on the proposed closure. In the statement, the company said: “These are always difficult decisions, but it is a necessary step in the company’s continuous efforts to effectively align and optimize its supply chain footprint. We do realise the impact of this decision on our team members; their families and their communities and we remain committed to providing assistance under our policies to help mitigate the impact of this decision where possible.” The company added that work produced at Gillingham would most likely transfer to Leeds, however it said that business would continue as normal until then. Graphic Packaging is a global packaging group with sales of $4.3bn and it employs 15,000 staff around the world, including locations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Spain, the UK and the US....

PrintWeek understands that chief executive Tony Chard is still hopeful of organising some sort of rescue deal for the stricken book printer. However, any deal would require the support of key stakeholders, including MPG’s banks and suppliers, as well as customers and employees. Paper suppliers will be particularly crucial to any possible deal. The hiatus at the business has now entered its third week. Employees left in limbo by the current situation have expressed frustration on printweek.com’s online forum, as have customers who have been left in the lurch. One author told PrintWeek: “I got a quote in March and sent in my deposit, but they were never in touch about it after that. All of a sudden on 20 May the order was put on the system. I’ve no idea if my books have been printed or not.” A supplier to the group said he was yet to hear any concrete proposals. “We haven’t heard a thing and it’s getting to the stage where we will have to act. The biggest enemy of any deal of this nature is delay,” he said. The group had been expected to go into administration last week, but to the best of PrintWeek’s knowledge this has not yet happened. A notice of intention to appoint an administrator was filed at the High Court by the directors of MPG Printgroup on 6 June. This provides the business with a breathing space and protection from other actions, such as winding up petitions by creditors, for ten working days....

But this is not in fact the aim of the show’s jet-setty look. As anyone who attended last year’s smaller digital-only show in Barcelona or perhaps 2011’s show in Hamburg, will know, Fespa is all about the themes. And this year’s? You guessed it: ‘Your Destination for Print’. This new motif very much builds on the previous three shows’ themes of revolution, evolution and then application, explains Neil Felton, managing director of exhibitions and events. “First there were revolutionary new technologies, and then they evolved, then people became very much focused on applications and looking at the vast array of ways wide-format print could be used,” he says. “Now people are actually solidifying further what the revolution and evolution means to them so they’re deciding where the destination is.” Many of the show’s new features are geared around helping people understand how to apply the innovations of recent years to their own businesses, explains Felton. First there’s the new Jet Set Conference schedule. This will address key areas of opportunity for printers including those in digital textile, digital printing, business building skills and industrial printing, and has a confirmed line-up of industry figure-heads such as Paul Noble of Banner Box, Nick Del Verme of Advanced Digital Textiles, Nick Devine (AKA The Print Coach) and Melanie Bowles from Chelsea College of Art. Then printers would be well-advised to take a stroll down the show’s new Inspiration Runway, says Felton, where they‘ll see examples of innovative print, along with case study details of how they were created in a whole range of formats, including interior design, garments, printed electronics, outdoor, screen print effects, instore and augmented reality. “There’s going to be a massive array of different types of applications there; some really interesting things,” promises Felton. On-hand to offer more specific inspiration will be the Pilot’s Briefing Zone and Fespa Fabric, both providing expert advice for those considering branching out into garment production. Inspiring exhibits But it won’t all be about printers gaining application advice. Many of the show’s features are also geared towards inspiring brand owners about what sorts of innovative print they might harness to enhance their brands. Joining the Inspiration Runway in doing this will be the Creative Corner area it leads into, where a range of seminars on packaging, instore graphics, interiors, outdoor and super large-format print will aim to inspire designers, creatives and brand owners and open up relationships between them and printing companies. “Our biggest frustration as a federation is that often creatives don’t realise there are so many different ways print can be used,” says Felton. “So the Creative Corner is where we as a federation are trying to engage with the printer’s customer...