In a statement, the postal operator said that it was “committed to seeking an agreement with the CWU on the way forward in Royal Mail that equips the business for the future and is fair to our employees”. The statement went on to respond to each of the four questions posed by the CWU to its members in the ballot, point by point. On the issue of a possible boycott by CWU members of mail from DSA providers, Royal Mail said that it was committed to the delivery of DSA mail and that any disruption to that service would “adversely impact the business, our reputation and that of our employees”. It also highlighted that DSA mail accounted for almost half of the mail it handled and, while previously a loss-making service, it made a profit of £80m after it had been modernised. Royal Mail also mirrored the concerns of the DM industry by stating that if the Royal Mail didn’t deliver DSA mail its “customers may look for alternatives, including using more email”. However, a Royal Mail spokesman declined to be drawn on what action it would take should the CWU instigate a boycott of DSA mail. Regarding the potential sale of Royal Mail, it said that as the government had indicated that it had no plans to invest in the postal provider, then a sale or partial sale, with the resulting private-sector backing, offered the best opportunity for Royal Mail to continue its evolution and “secure as many good quality jobs as possible”. It also dismissed any sale representing a threat to its universal service as it was “enshrined in law” and that Ofcom had ruled out any changes to the scope of the universal service. Ofcom also responded to CWU’s charge that it had ‘no strategy for dealing with end-to-end competition’ referring the union to its previously published guidance. “We also outlined the steps that could be taken in the event that competition poses a threat to the sustainability of the universal service, which it is our duty to secure. If such a threat emerges, we have clear powers to intervene,” added an Ofcom spokesman. On the final two issues of the CWU’s pay claim and policy of non-co-operation – Royal Mail claimed it was committed to seeking an agreement and wanted to work with the union and its members to make it a more efficient business....

In a statement, the postal operator said that it was “committed to seeking an agreement with the CWU on the way forward in Royal Mail that equips the business for the future and is fair to our employees”. The statement went on to respond to each of the four questions posed by the CWU to its members in the ballot, point by point. On the issue of a possible boycott by CWU members of mail from DSA providers, Royal Mail said that it was committed to the delivery of DSA mail and that any disruption to that service would “adversely impact the business, our reputation and that of our employees”. It also highlighted that DSA mail accounted for almost half of the mail it handled and, while previously a loss-making service, it made a profit of £80m after it had been modernised. Royal Mail also mirrored the concerns of the DM industry by stating that if the Royal Mail didn’t deliver DSA mail its “customers may look for alternatives, including using more email”. However, a Royal Mail spokesman declined to be drawn on what action it would take should the CWU instigate a boycott of DSA mail. Regarding the potential sale of Royal Mail, it said that as the government had indicated that it had no plans to invest in the postal provider, then a sale or partial sale, with the resulting private-sector backing, offered the best opportunity for Royal Mail to continue its evolution and “secure as many good quality jobs as possible”. It also dismissed any sale representing a threat to its universal service as it was “enshrined in law” and that Ofcom had ruled out any changes to the scope of the universal service. Ofcom also responded to CWU’s charge that it had ‘no strategy for dealing with end-to-end competition’ referring the union to its previously published guidance. “We also outlined the steps that could be taken in the event that competition poses a threat to the sustainability of the universal service, which it is our duty to secure. If such a threat emerges, we have clear powers to intervene,” added an Ofcom spokesman. On the final two issues of the CWU’s pay claim and policy of non-co-operation – Royal Mail claimed it was committed to seeking an agreement and wanted to work with the union and its members to make it a more efficient business....

Parent company Daily Mail Group Trust (DMGT) said the decline was partly mitigated by the MailOnline‘s 61% revenue growth to £20m (2012: £12m), although this is still dwarfed by printed revenues. Combined revenue for the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and MailOnline declined by 4% to £306m, which was attributed to an 8% decline in overall print advertising revenue and the 6% decline in circulation revenue. London’s free paper Metro was hit by a post Olympics revenue decline of 8% to £40m (2012: £44m). Overall DMG Media, the division comprising DMGT’s newspapers, Zoopla, Wowcher and digital recruitment firm Evenbase, posted a 6% increase in operating profit on revenues of £406m (2012: £435m). DMGT chief executive Martin Morgan said good overall underlying performance reflected the strength of the group’s B2B companies and the resilience of its national consumer titles. He added: “As expected, reported operating profit increased despite a decline in reported revenue resulting from recent disposals. “Our UK consumer business, DMG media, continued to experience challenging conditions and underlying revenues were slightly down, although the increase in digital revenues more than offset the decline in print advertising revenues.” “We have continued to actively manage our portfolio of businesses and have made several acquisitions and disposals during the period and into the second half, to improve the overall quality and growth prospects of the group.” Morgan said that he expected comparatives in the second half of the year to be adversely impacted by the timing of biennial events and the Olympics, which were one-off benefits in the second half of the last financial year. “Overall, the outlook for the full year remains unchanged,” he added....

Administrators from Zolfo Cooper are understood to be on-site at the firm, which was formerly known as MPG Books. However, there has not yet been official confirmation that the business has gone into administration. A source close to the situation said that while administrators were on-site, they might not be officially appointed until Tuesday, after the bank holiday weekend. MPG has plants in Bodmin, King’s Lynn, and recently opened a new plant in Cambridge following its takeover of the Cambridge University Press (CUP) printing operation last year, which resulted in a major restructuring of the group’s manufacturing sites. Chief executive Tony Chard was unavailable for comment at the time of writing, and the company’s phones were diverting to an answerphone service. The takeover of the CUP facility, and the resulting costs involved with relocating equipment and setting up a new MPG plant in Bar Hill, Cambridge, appears to have resulted in a cash crisis at the company. Nigel Gawthrope, FOC at the Cambridge site, said: “There was a £500,000 budget to set the factory up, and it actually cost £1.7m. They didn’t allow enough time for the machines to bed in and go into production. “We knew there was a bit of a cashflow problem, but we thought it had turned the corner,” he added. Cambridge University Press operations director Sandra Waterhouse issued a statement this morning on behalf of the publisher. She said: “The management team of MPG today announced it is to go into administration. In July 2012 Cambridge University Press placed a large proportion of its UK printing with MPG Books Group. The agreement also saw the Press’s in-house printing department, and most of the staff, transferred to MPG. “This transfer was undertaken in good faith and, as well as allowing the publishing groups the flexibility they need, was seen as a way of securing continued employment for staff otherwise facing redundancy through the potential closure of the Press’s printing operation. “Throughout the contract to date we have offered every support to MPG and we are sorry that the business is now facing administration as a result of cash flow problems. Our production directors are considering what this means for our production requirements and will be taking steps to minimise the immediate impact.” At the same time as setting up the new Cambridge facility MPG was also carrying out a £4m investment plan that involved a new Timsons T-Press and HP Indigo 10000 B2 digital press for its Biddles site in King’s Lynn. Just three months ago Chard said the group was “still highly acquisitive” and planned to use its revamped manufacturing platform to expand its services into “book-like products”. It was also poised to invest...

The winning project involved a partnership between PhotoBox, web specialist Overthrow Digital and The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. The mammoth initiative resulted in 200,000 children’s self-portraits, which had been submitted through UK schools and charities such as Mencap and Kids Company, being projected onto the front of Buckingham Palace for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012. Each child’s portrait was then included in an online photo-gallery, created by Photobox, from which visitors could buy mugs, t-shirts or mouse mats printed with the images. 20% of all revenue from the purchases went to The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts. PhotoBox co-founder Graham Hobson said the project, which took nine months of preparation, had been a refreshing change. “It was great for us to do something so creative rather than just for commercial purposes. We needed to think about how to interact with children rather than our usual target audience, particularly when it came to the type of products we were offering from the online gallery,” he explained.” Hobson said that receiving the award was a great honour and the experience had been unforgetable, not only for the children whose self-portraits were projected onto the palace, but for the staff at PhotoBox. “It was really a proud moment for us and our families,” he added....