The National Association of Paper Merchants was wound up following the withdrawal of the UK’s two largest paper merchants. Paperlinx and Antalis decided to separately cancel their memberships and at a meeting on 11 December that body decided that it “should formally cease to function as a trade association”... Novalia founder Dr Kate Stone was taken to hospital after being gored by a stag while holidaying near Fort William in Scotland. By the end of the month her condition had improved significantly... Paperlinx announced a number of price increases and proposed the closure of its Nottingham, Sheffield and Leeds distribution centres as part of a European restructure that will impact 140 jobs... Polestar filed its first set of results since acquiring BGP and Stones, with group sales for Polestar Print Holdings in the year to 30 September 2013, including a 10-month contribution from the former Goodhead businesses, up 10.2% to £238.9m... Johnston Press secured some financial breathing room after “resetting” its banking covenants ahead of an anticipated refinancing of its debt... Prospect Mailing Services, which had gone into administration in November 2013, owed unsecured creditors £1.4m with HMRC the biggest unsecured creditor, owed a total of £709,169. Trade creditors were owed just under £500,000... UK envelope manufacturer Encore Envelopes acquired the UK production division of Spanish envelope giant Tompla Envelopes in a deal that added more than one billion envelopes to its annual output... Benson Group’s North East flagship site has made its biggest ever press spend on an eight-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 106 B1 perfector... Paperhat Group appointed former Williams Lea director David Finch as group managing director... The Website Leeds and sister company Glynn Print Finishers were placed into creditors’ voluntary liquidation. The group’s demise was blamed on the unexpected cancellation just before Christmas of a major regular contract, believed to be for pizza chain Domino’s, as well as a string of bad debts... Firefighters were called to a paper mill in Northfleet, Kent after a fire broke out. Six engines from the Kent Fire and Rescue Service were sent to tackle the blaze at a Kimberly-Clark paper mill... One of the UK’s oldest security printers, Smith & Ouzman, and four individuals pleaded not guilty to corruption charges brought by the Serious Fraud Office... A coroner’s inquest was opened after Alan Dinsdale, director of Wickford-based screen printer A&S Print Services, died after reportedly falling on to a guillotine blade...