FESPA UK Summit tackles industry 'hot buttons'

Last Thursday (November 27^th), over 100 representatives from across the graphics and signage industries returned for FESPA UK Association’s second Annual Graphics Summit at the Hellidon Lakes Hotel & Spa in Daventry.

The first event organised by the UK association focused on sustainability, with attendees tasked with considering how their businesses and the industry as a whole can push for greater environmental responsibility and reduce ecological impact.

The 2025 edition of the event, by comparison, covered a wider range of topics including the impact of FESPA UK’s Waste Accreditation Scheme, the UK government’s recent Autumn Budget, and the rising risk of cybersecurity attacks.

To kick off the day, Suzi Ward and Jon Hutton, managing director and director of FESPA UK respectively, spoke about the effectiveness of the Waste Accreditation Scheme, which enables businesses to effectively manage their waste, increase recycling rates, and eliminate landfill.

According to Hutton and Ward, in 2025 alone over 245,000kg of foamboard was recycled as part of the scheme, as well as over 200,000kg of polyester fabric and PVC banner.

Following on from the success of the scheme, which is supported by companies including 3M, Spandex, William Smith Group, and Premier Paper Group, Ward and Hutton are now speaking to other associations in Europe to encourage them to bring in their own equivalent schemes.

FESPA UK also used the event to announce the launch of a free-to-use Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) assessment platform which is open to anyone, with additional access to ESG specialists being provided to FESPA UK members.

Following this was a talk from keynote speaker John Arnold, a senior adviser on strategy and public affairs and associate director of Arden Strategies.

Arnold used his speech to discuss the expected impact of the UK government’s recent Autumn Budget, as well as his personal take on the current state of UK politics and what he felt were the likely mishaps and politic machinations which would befall the government.

After Arnold’s talk, Matt Swain, chief executive officer of marketing company Triangle, spoke about how individuals can add practical value to their businesses through marketing.

Swain discussed how AI is making people more careful and sceptical, with trust at an all-time low. Swain believes that marketing therefore needs to be more personal, as the public is now more likely to believe individuals rather than brands. He then outlined how businesses can create a LinkedIn profile with that goal, crafting content with clear goals and intentions.

A deep dive into the impact of AI followed from Sarah Lees, head of marketing and communications at Compass Business Finance, alongside Simon Wheeler, managing director of Stylographics.

Lees and Wheeler demonstrated a range of ways in which AI technology has helped to streamline their business operations, while balancing the discussion with an analysis of how these processes can be added without negatively impacting the employability of their respective teams. As they suggested, the goal of utilising AI should be to enhance, rather than replace.

Rounding up the talks, Joshua Reid from Howden spoke about how cyberattacks have massively increased in 2025, showing how print companies are particularly vulnerable, and putting forward steps that companies can put in place to stop future attacks.

After the summit, dinner and drinks were served as part of a networking dinner, with Hutton and Ward presenting prizes to a range of companies within the FESPA network who took part in the organisation’s Waste Accreditation Scheme.

A particularly moving tribute was given to long-standing director of the FESPA UK Association and co-founder of Augustus Martin, Lascelle ‘Las’ Barrow, who passed away earlier this year.  

Barrow’s family were presented with a specially-made Life Achievement award to demonstrate the impact he had on FESPA UK and the wider signage industry.

Speaking at the event, Brooke Stancill, operations coordinator of FESPA UK, said: “It’s really good to see this level of collaboration and to see so many friendly faces here at the event.

“We’ve got so many of our champions here who promote our Accreditation Scheme and who are absolutely supporting us along the way, and we wouldn’t be anywhere without them.”