Since the last issue, no less than eight acquisitions have come to light. Eight. And in the past month its almost double that.

The vast majority of the recent deals have been on the supplier side, and a fair chunk of those have been innovative UK companies acquired by admiring overseas rivals. High praise indeed for the innovation developed in these shores.

And that admiration and praise extends well beyond manufacturing of printing kit.

The UK industry is also seen worldwide as leading light in terms of innovative print applications. And this quest for originality featured heavily as a discussion topic in this issue’s round table on the direct mail sector.

Unfortunately, however, it seems that while the manufacturing expertise is there to push the boundaries of what’s possible, marketers’ fear of trying something new and an unhealthy obsession with marketing by numbers seems to be stifling the creative possibilities of print.

And that’s a real shame, because UK marketing excellence was once the envy of the world.

If the print industry has the tools and the knowledge, then it seems like a missed opportunity and, dare I say, a gross dereliction of duty for the marketers not to embrace it.

 So, I hope that the brave few maverick marketers continue to fight the good fight, because innovation has to be a partnership and if the direct mail sector is to thrive it needs its adland chums to step up to the plate.