December is shaping up to be a memorable month, particularly in web offset. The mists are clearing, but the plot is thickening.

We now know that the same team of investors do indeed own both Cooper Clegg and Wyndeham. Why? If I had a few spare quid knocking about I'd be more interested in buying a fleet of burger vans than a web printer, not least because the margins and the cash flow would be superior. Anyhow, we're informed the two companies are to be run separately. Which leads me to the inescapable conclusion that they will therefore be competing against each other in the same highly competitive space. Eh? How does that work?

Meanwhile, decision day looms for the workforce at Wyndeham Heron to accept or reject the new world order, so we should know sooner rather than later what the future is for Maldon. Musing about the return of Roy Kingston in some sort of "axeman cometh" role, I can't help but wonder why he and Paul Utting didn't sort out these issues a few years back when there was still some element of choice in the matter - it seems that Heron has historical problems that have left it with the highest machine rates in the country, but this isn't new news. A well-placed source summed it up perfectly, thus: "Market conditions are a bit different today. Now we are all doomed, then we only thought we might be." The fact that the company has gone backwards so spectacularly is the perfect illustration of what happens when input costs go up and you're stuck with low fixed-price contracts.

Meanwhile, Polestar is retiring some old capacity at Petty, and I'm told the G16 being decommissioned was bought by Maxwell - so a little piece of print history there. Are there any other Maxwell presses still running today, I wonder? I imagine the KBA Compacta just installed at Chantry is more productive than both the bits of old iron being taken down at Petty. So while capacity is being taken out, there's probably still a net gain overall.

Change is also afoot at BGP that will require some amendments to the "key personnel" section on the company's website - the month is young, and there's more to come.