Ipex organisers suffered another setback when a second major exhibitor, Xerox, announced it was to pull out of the show. To add to Ipex’s woes, the Landa Corporation, which had garnered a lot of interest at 2012’s Drupa, also announced that it would not be at the show… To kick off what would be a challenging year for Kodak, the US-based company revealed that it had been haemorrhaging cash at more than $100m per month in the first nine months of 2012… Contego Packaging sold its Cartons division to US food specialist Graphic Packaging… Polestar Varnicoat looked set to close after it began a 30-day consultation at the site… Packaging industry supplier Kenray Forming was fined £10,000 after an employee severed a finger… Police suspected a fire that destroyed Arden Marketing’s 19th-century factory had been started deliberately… Paperlinx appointed Dave Allen as its new chief executive after four months without a permanent head… Wyndeham Peterborough made 70 redundancies after a month-long consultation with employees… Reader’s Digest UK cut 95 staff from its 120-strong workforce, citing declining sales… ESP Colour spent £2m on new kit and extending its services, trebling in size in the process… Sir John Madejski became a shareholder in Polestar Print Holdings after it acquired Madejski's Goodhead Group in a pre-pack deal … Montgomery Litho went into liquidation, after the loss of a major contact, at the cost of 148 jobs. Production director Janette McAllister subsequently bought the “most profitable” Glasgow arm in an MBO, a move that saved 76 jobs but which some criticised for giving the business an unfair advantage… Danwood Group was forced to restate its accounts for the previous six years after uncovering "accounting irregularities" relating to Managed Print Services contracts. Four senior managers, including founder and chairman Colin Daniels, were subsequently suspended pending investigation...

GPS Colour Graphics invested more than £1m to bring finishing in-house… Newsprinters formalised its contract to print the Metro London, which it had been printing on an ad hoc basis after the collapse of previous printer Newsfax… AJS Labels bought a £1m, custom-built, 12-colour MPS label press… KBA UK reorganised its service and consumables sales operations to help printers get the most out of their presses… A “busy” litho print shop operating in HM Prison Kingston in Portsmouth was shut down as a result of the government’s decision to close the prison… GDL launched PrintCaf, a print franchise aimed at students and young professionals… Unite and the Confederation of Paper Industries agreed a 2.6% increase in the basic hourly wage for sector workers… The Financial Times announced that it would be prioritising digital over print as it sought to reduce newspaper production costs… Fujifilm spent £3m at its factory in Broadstairs, Kent to increase UV inkjet manufacturing capacity… Ipex revealed its new focus intended to better serve the “changing dynamics of print”…APS Group won a three-year contract to manage the RSPCA’s print needs… Mike Dolan and Ben Crozier, directors of the failed £65m-turnover Media & Print Investments, were disqualified for eight years each… Goodhead Group’s debts were revealed to be more than £9m when the company was sold in a pre-packed administration deal to Sun European Partners…