It has been an interesting year for finishing in 2008. We have seen a new facility built in Eastern Europe, finishers turning the table on printers by investing in print kit, Drupa saw a host of new equipment launched and there was of course many investments.

Finishing manufacturers, it could be argued, have benefited from the financial slowdown. Printers may not be able to splash out millions on a new press, but they still need to be offering something different. The finishing phrase of the year has been "added value" and a struggling printer can add value with an affordable £50,000 investment in a piece of finishing kit.

January
The year kicked off with Sherwood Press becoming the latest company to look to Eastern Europe for expansion, opening a hand finishing plant in Poland... Neopost entered the final stage of a £27m bid for mailing kit manufacturer PFE International... And Leicester-based Clinical Print Finishing was desperately trying to keep its new mystery kit from America under wraps...

February
Guillotine manufacturer Baumann merged some of its Perfecta and Wohlenberg manufacturing facilities... Celloglas launched a clean film, aimed at wiping out disease from hospitals... While Pureprint Group brought its binding in-house with a £750,000 spend

March
Finisher Alpha Media brought its printing in-house with a £2m investment in Heidelberg equipment... K&L Laminators splashed out £100,000 on finishing equipment... And Ancient House Press built on an investment in a Mitsubishi Press by splashing out on new Kolbus kit

April
Baumann revealed plans for a new guillotine showroom, following its earlier plans to move manufacturing... Goss and Ferag teamed up to launch a rival machine to Muller Martini's saddlestitcher, one of the biggest pre-Drupa announcements... Meanwhile Benson Box smashed a plant record for the number of die-cut sheets produced in a single shift

May
Muller Martini fired its shot back at Ferag and Goss with a mystery announcement that it would be unveiling a new saddlestitcher at Drupa... Howard Hunt bought two BB700 machines from Buhrs... While the nearly 100 year-old book binder Riley Dunn & Wilson dragged itself back from the brink of closure with the help of a £100,000 investment

June
Drupa brought with it an upgraded BB700 machine from Buhrs... ESP spent £750,000 on finishing... And finishing companies claimed widespread success at Drupa and Duplo defended the post-press offering at Drupa

July
Tech-ni-fold raised £3,600 for charity by auctioning off gold plated equipment... Specialist finisher Best Cover UV went back to basics with a £250,000 investment in fold/stitch/trim equipment... North Wales Newspapers became one of the first publishers to look at doing commercial work with £100,000 investment on inline stitching

August
Diamond Print Services launched a new high-volume department, Diamond Hi-Speed... Autobond unveiled a lamination/coating hybrid... Dialogue Solutions upgraded its green credentials with a £400,000 investment in a UV Digicoater

September
Pagefast bought in new finishing kit and expanded its site... The Magazine Printing Company splashed out £400,000 on a Buhrs 4000 polywrapping line... Tech-ni-fold signed a four-year deal to supply its creasing supplements to Heidelberg

October
D&M Print Finishers was bought by Mercury boss Mike Grayson... Ancient House purchased two Stahlfolders... Express Offset brought its finishing in-house

November
B&B Press claims that investing in a card cutter was just as important as spending £1m on new kit... Artisan Press bought a third Muller Martini Corona... Anton spent £1.2m on its bindery

December
Eggbox Graphics brought its finishing in-house... Printroom Soho moved into the perfect binding market following a £100,000 investment in equipment from Duplo... Screenprint bought Kongsberg kit ahead of the proposed consolidation of three of its sites