Here are the five most-read stories on the website for August:

Top 5 most-read stories

1. Back at the top as in April this year, was news concerning the former Butler & Tanner (B&T). The announcement by administrator Peter Kubik of UHY Hacker Young that unsecured creditors would "not receive anything following the company’s administration also angered many readers in our online forum and was the most-read story throughout the month.

2. In early August, we broke the news that Polestar Greaves was to cull 190 jobs as it closed its post-press division. This announcement on 7 August rounded off a bad start to the month for the industry with that week alone seeing 500 job cuts across the sector.

3. The news unfortunately did not get any brighter as the month progressed. Mid-month we brought you the news that sister mailing houses Colin Clapp and LDH Mailing had called in administrators and were axing 45 jobs with more possible cuts to follow.

4. Just over a week later, commercial printer Heanorgate Printing became the latest company to fall into administration, making August a truly horrendous month for print.

5. Finally, the fifth most-read story was the news that Reed Print & Design had also called in the administrators. Around 148 staff at the Tyne and Wear-based company, which was founded in 1968, are now facing possible redundancy.


Comments

Once again, the printweek.com community forum has proved a great place for people in print to talk about current issues and meet other people in similar situations. August was no exception as we saw hundreds of new members joining in and having their say. Here are some of the comments which we felt reflected the discussions in the forums this month:

"There is business out there lads 'n' lasses – we've just got to look harder, change our approach, be consultative and offer true and valuable solutions that the client can measure the benefits of: and that isn't quoting from a management book, its just good old common sense and Geordie optimism."

Alexander Martin offers reassurance to staff at Colin Clapp and LDH Mailing

"You must be joking; the print industry is laying off skilled workers hand over foot. There is no place for these people within the industry let alone 16-year-olds with diplomas in manufacturing. The print colleges themselves are struggling to provide "quality" courses. It is for schools to provide "educated" well rounded individuals and for industry to attract and train them in the individual aspects of their sector. Governments and industry bridge the gap with "technical" courses at higher education. Currently a third of pupils are leaving schools illiterate/innumerate and colleges are struggling through a lack of investment in manufacturing disciplines because they are costly to run. Employers be honest about what you want from your employees over the long term and stop jumping on the nearest bandwagon."

The Mighty Wind on the story 'Print companies urged to collaborate for new diploma'

"Clearly the decision to close the bindery was inevitable, given its location and the fact it had lost it's USP with the closure of the Greaves' printing plant. Good luck to all of the staff who were a joy to work with, and who can walk away with their heads held high… The biggest single problem for most binderies is its labour costs, or more accurately the efficiency of its manpower expenditure."

Douglas Richardson on the news that Polestar Greaves was to close its post-press division

"Currently, the government is preparing the Climate Change Bill, which will form the mechanism to charge levies or taxes based on these emissions. The print supply chain from paper manufacture to delivery of final product will attract additional costs by virtue of its carbon footprint. The key therefore is to prepare, understand and quantify this cost, because those that do will be more competitive and more profitable in the future."

Steve Carter on PrintWeek feature 'Counting the cost of carbon'