Four Christmas stories from the world of print

We detail a small selection of festive highlights from across UK print, including major partnerships and charity drives

Jonathan Pert
December 22, 2025
The lead-up to Christmas can be particularly busy for printers, with high demand for festive items like cards, gift tags, calendars, invites, books, and retail displays

As Christmas approaches for 2025, Print Monthly has collected some festive highlights from across UK print, including charity drives, Christmas giveaways, and notable campaigns undertaken by print service providers.

Route 1 Print rewards resellers with Christmas giveaway

UK-based online trade printer, Route 1 Print, gave its trade customers the chance to unwrap daily festive prizes in its first-ever ‘Christmas Warm-Up’ event.

Over ten working days from November 17th to 28th, entrants were able to win a range of daily grand prizes including a £2,000 TUI holiday voucher.

For every £50 spent per working day on the Route 1 Print website, customers earned an entry into the following day’s prize draw. Spending across the full two-week event also earned entries into a ‘Grand Prize Draw’ which included the £2,000 holiday voucher.

Speaking at the time of the giveaway, Jack Parks, head of Route 1 Print, said: "We wanted to make this Christmas extra special for our customers – it’s our way of saying thank you for an incredible year.

“Over the past 12 months, we’ve seen our Loyalty & Rewards scheme grow significantly, and this event is our way of giving a little something back. It’s about celebrating our resellers hard work, supporting their business, and spreading some festive cheer along the way."

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Hunter Luxury partners with NEXT on beauty advent calendars

Packaging supplier, Hunter Luxury, partnered this year with multinational retailer, NEXT, to create two limited-edition beauty advent calendars for the festive season.

Having already collaborated with NEXT on its 2024 beauty calendars, this year Hunter Luxury led on the structural and graphic design of the 2025 calendars from the initial concept stage through to production.

The ‘Luxury Beauty Advent’ calendar is a hinged box featuring a traditional ice rink scene, finished with UV gloss varnish and delicate embossed gold foiling.

The ‘25 Days of Beauty Advent’, meanwhile, uses a chocolate box-style design with a ribbon tie. It carries a more minimalist look, using spot UV varnish, embossing, and foiled typography to create a festive pink and gold aesthetic.

Both calendars contain 25 beauty products inside individual printed cartons with gold foiled numbers that consumers unbox every day through the festive period.

Paul Hamilton, head of sales and marketing at Hunter Luxury, says: “The NEXT beauty advent calendar is an icon of the festive season – its release is as hotly anticipated as the big day itself for many people.

“To have the opportunity to not only work with the team at NEXT, but to lead the process from concept to execution, was an early Christmas treat for us.”

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Soyang Europe launches Christmas charity collection drive

Wide-format print equipment and materials supplier, has run a Christmas charity collection drive this year for the Colne Open Door Centre.

Opened in March 2000, the centre was set up to respond to the needs of local people in Colne, Lancashire, and the surrounding areas that live in social isolation and have become marginalised by society.

Colne Open Door Centre includes a not-for-profit café and food bank, as well as providing drop-in support services, counselling, and training.

With Soyang Europe located just over one mile away from the organisation’s local women's refuge in Altham, its team wanted to run a campaign to help spread some festive cheer among the community.

Soyang sales assistants, Louise Bibby and Alice Aspinall, first launched the collection drive in mid-November with the aim of gathering items that will be distributed directly to families in need of extra support at Christmas.

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Contributions to the collection included a wide range of boxed toys, gift sets, children’s books, soft toys, pyjamas, foodbank items, selection boxes, and other festive treats ready to hand over to Colne Open Door Centre.

Aspinall says: “The response has been incredible. While many of us are preparing for joyful Christmas mornings, others are worrying about how to make the day special at all.

“What started as a small collection has snowballed into something far bigger than we ever expected. It’s been genuinely uplifting to see the donations building day by day. Staff, customers, visitors, and delivery drivers have all taken time to contribute, and that kindness doesn’t go unnoticed.

Summing up her feelings, Aspinall adds: “It’s a reminder of what this time of year is about: supporting our community and looking out for those who need a little extra help. This generosity will make a real difference for local families.”

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Zebra Print creates festive product brochure for confectionary brand

Print solutions provider, Zebra Print Group, delivered what it labelled as a “sweet success story” with its latest project, producing 30,000 copies of a 64-page autumn and winter brochure for confectionery brand, Chocolates for Chocoholics.

The project marked the company’s first collaboration with Chocolates for Chocoholics, following a long working relationship between the brand and one of Zebra’s account managers, Ben Hazelton.

The A5 landscape brochure, printed on 80gsm gloss and saddle-stitched, was reportedly turned around in just six days from artwork approval to delivery.

The brochure played a key role in what Chocolates for Chocoholics calculates as its busiest retail period – the run-up to the festive season – serving as both a product showcase and sales driver across its B2B and consumer channels.

Speaking of the collaboration, Liz Cossey, managing director at Chocolates for Chocoholics, says: “We definitely made the right choice and have been delighted with both the print quality and efficient service. The brochure looks very bright and punchy with perfect finishing quality.”

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