If one were to pick out the most jubilant exhibitors at the show you wouldn't have to look much further than HP and Duplo. HP sold more than 100 digital presses (and that's just the Indigo models, I'm hearing the tills were ringing for sign and display too), while Duplo provided something of a masterclass in maxing the opportunities presented by a major exhibition - it really pushed QR codes in the run-up to the show and generated a serious number of leads both before and during the event through this mechanism. And it sold everything on its stand.

The overall mood really was noticeably positive. Just imagine if Ipex had been scheduled for this time last year - it would have been a dead duck. No-one summed this up better than my colleague Emma Broderick, who's been on maternity leave since last summer and came to Ipex for a few days to catch up with everyone ahead of her official return to the daily grind. The improvement in mindset and the general vibe was so marked; she described it as "feeling like a different industry".

Let's hope this feel-good factor has legs.