The Lateral Group story is proof that something positive can emerge from wreckage created by another person.

Howitt was a perfectly good business that was brought down by the ambitions of its then-chief executive to set up a greenfield gravure facility. I have a sudden urge to find the picture I took of a horse grazing on the proposed site of said facility, the horse developed something of a cult following during the saga. It should have had its own fan club. I could have printed t-shirts, posters, bumper stickers...

Anyhow, the business was rescued by a bunch of astute people with drive, talent and focus. In under a decade they have built up a sizeable group offering a range of print and 'beyond print' services, a business that's now proved an attractive proposition for American behemoth DST Systems, owner of IOS.

This week of all weeks it's good to know that some good can come out of someone else's bad.