Gapuma at the Table as London Hosts UK–Angola Trade Forum
11 September 2026 Gapuma Group attended the UK–Angola Trade & Investment Forum in London this week, as senior figures from government, finance and industry gathered to strengthen ties between Britain and one of Africa’s fastest-diversifying economies. The two-day event – organised by DMA Invest, in partnership with the UK–Angola Chamber of Commerce and Angola’s Agency for Private Investment and Export Promotion (AIPEX) – opened with “Angola Day” at the London Stock Exchange. Kirsty McNeill MP, the UK’s Minister for Africa, opened proceedings, marking Angola’s fiftieth anniversary of independence and pointing to the Lobito Corridor as evidence that transport links only deliver value when they open doors for people, not just goods. She closed by invoking an Angolan proverb that true friendship is tested by travelling together – declaring that Britain is proud to walk this journey with Angola “day and night, near and far.” Angola’s delegation was led by Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa, and drew officials from the Ministry of Finance and its supervised bodies, the Ministry of Planning, AIPEX, and a clutch of commercial banks and financial institutions. The Forum’s opening day set out the country’s macroeconomic priorities, its ongoing privatisation programme, tax reforms, and the investment opportunities emerging from its push to diversify away from oil. Day two turned to the practical business of capital: financing strategic infrastructure, promoting exports, and direct meetings between Angolan and British companies, with panels on initial public offerings, debt markets and development finance. Speaking on the second day at the Institute of Directors, Yanish Bagheerutty, Business Development Manager at Gapuma, said forums like this are where new partnerships begin, and that Gapuma intends to keep building its engagement with Angola as the relationship matures.
Propak West Africa 2026: Gapuma Returns to Lagos’s Leading Manufacturing Showcase
10 September 2026 Propak West Africa 2026 closed this evening at the Landmark Centre in Lagos, bringing to an end three days that once again confirmed the exhibition’s place as one of West Africa’s premier gatherings for the packaging, plastics, printing, processing and food manufacturing industries. This year’s edition brought together more than 200 exhibitors and over 4,000 industry professionals from more than 35 countries, spread across four exhibition halls. Alongside the trade floor, a dedicated three-day conference programme gave production and packaging professionals from across the region access to keynote sessions, technical panels and case studies, including a stakeholder session hosted by the Recycling Association of Nigeria on closing the gap between packaging placed on the market and materials actually recovered. Exhibition space had reportedly sold out to around 90 per cent ahead of opening, and the show drew suppliers and technology providers from as far afield as Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North America, alongside a strong showing of Nigerian and regional manufacturers. Propak West Africa sits within a wider portfolio of Propak exhibitions across the continent, including the longer-established Propak Africa show in Johannesburg. But within West Africa specifically, it is widely recognised, including by independent industry press, as the region’s leading manufacturing and packaging event – a title borne out by the scale and international reach of this year’s edition. Gapuma was represented on the floor by Prakash Ramchandani, Managing Director of GLB Chemical Services Limited, a Gapuma group company, and Akash Suhanda, Business Development at Gapuma Group Limited, continuing an association with the show that began with the Group’s attendance last year. “Propak West Africa has become one of the most important fixtures on the calendar for anyone serious about manufacturing and packaging in this region,” said Ramchandani. “Being back on the floor again this year, you can feel how much West Africa’s manufacturing base has grown – it’s where relationships are built, and where the direction of the industry becomes visible for the year ahead. For a business like GLB, closely tied to Nigeria’s manufacturing and chemicals sector, that makes it an event worth showing up to, year after year.” The exhibition’s growth this year reflects a broader trend: West Africa’s packaging and manufacturing sectors are expanding steadily, driven by urbanisation, rising consumer demand, e-commerce growth and increasing attention to sustainability and the circular economy. For Gapuma, whose West African footprint spans chemicals, commodities and logistics, events like Propak West Africa offer a direct line into that momentum – a chance to meet suppliers, track emerging technology and stay close to the manufacturers shaping the region’s industrial future. With this year’s edition now behind it, Propak West Africa will return to Lagos next September. Gapuma expects to be there again.
New Abidjan Warehouse Propels Gapuma into CI Top 5
9 September 2026 Gapuma Group marked a significant milestone on 7 September with the commissioning of its new warehouse in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire – a move that reshapes both the scale of its operations and its standing in the market. The new facility spans 3,000 square metres and can accommodate around 150 containers, representing close to a 100 per cent increase on Gapuma’s previous storage capacity in the country. It is a substantial expansion, and one that reflects the pace at which demand for Gapuma’s chemical products across West Africa continues to grow. The warehouse received its first consignment, 135 tonnes of caustic soda, shortly after commissioning – the opening move in what will be a far larger flow of materials through the site in the months ahead. Beyond the numbers, the significance of this step is strategic. “This isn’t just about square metreage,” says Prakash Daswani, General Manager of Gapuma’s Côte d’Ivoire operation. “It changes the dynamics and the landscape of our operations in West Africa, and places Gapuma firmly amongst the top five chemical companies in Côte d’Ivoire.” For a business built on reliability of supply, that additional capacity translates directly into a stronger, more resilient offering for customers across the region. Perhaps most importantly, the new warehouse opens up hinterland markets well beyond Abidjan and Côte d’Ivoire itself, extending Gapuma’s reach deeper into West Africa and positioning the company to serve a wider network of customers than ever before. It is a major step forward for Gapuma, and a clear signal of the ambition driving its growth across the continent. Further announcements on the Abidjan operation, and on Gapuma’s wider West African footprint, are expected in the coming months. We’re proud to share a video of the first consignment arriving below: Content
Not Quite a Right: The Strange Origins of the British Bank Holiday, and Its Older Cousin, the Quarter Day
31 August 2026 Ask most people why Britain gets a day off in August, and they will assume it has always been so – as fixed a part of the national furniture as queuing or complaining about the weather. In truth, the bank holiday is a comparatively recent invention, and a stranger one than its name suggests. Before 1871 Before 1871, England’s calendar of rest was a patchwork of religious survivals. The Bank of England itself had once closed for around forty saints’ days and anniversaries; by 1830 that had been trimmed to eighteen, and by 1834 to just four: Good Friday, the first of May, the first of November, and Christmas Day. Most working people had no such luxury. Sundays, Good Friday and Christmas Day were the only holidays recognised in common law, and the rest of the year’s rare respites were local, seasonal and largely religious in character. Sir John Lubbock and “St Lubbock’s Days” That changed in 1871, thanks to Sir John Lubbock – banker, Liberal MP, and one of the more eccentric figures to grace the Commons. A friend and disciple of Charles Darwin, Lubbock kept a pet wasp, wrote extensively on ants and bees, and made a well-documented attempt to teach his poodle to read (the poodle, historians note, proved unteachable). He was also the driving force behind the preservation of the Avebury stone circles, and later took his title, Baron Avebury, from them. His Bank Holidays Act created four new holidays for England, Wales and Ireland: Easter Monday, Whit Monday, the first Monday in August, and Boxing Day. Good Friday and Christmas Day were left out of the Act entirely, since the law already regarded them as common law holidays and saw no need to legislate twice. Scotland, whose commercial calendar ran rather differently, was given New Year’s Day and Christmas Day instead. Bank clerks, delighted, subscribed to a testimonial fund in Lubbock’s honour and nicknamed the new days “St Lubbock’s Days.” A Right That Never Quite Existed Here lies the peculiarity that gives the bank holiday its unusual legal character, even now. The 1871 Act, and the Banking and Financial Dealings Act of 1971 that replaced it, never gave anyone a right to a day off. What they did was compel banks, and by extension the financial dealings that depend on them, to close. Everything else – whether an office, a shop or a factory floor also shuts – has always been a matter of custom and contract rather than statute. England, in other words, has never really had a “statutory holiday” in the sense that many other countries understand the term; it has a banking holiday that the rest of the economy has simply chosen, over a century and a half, to follow. The 1971 Act tidied the calendar considerably, fixing the Spring and Summer bank holidays to the last Mondays in May and August respectively, and adding New Year’s Day to the list from 1974; an early May bank holiday followed by royal proclamation in 1978. The Older Calendar: Quarter Days None of this has anything to do with England’s much older “quarter days,” though the two are easily confused. Quarter days – Lady Day (25 March), Midsummer Day (24 June), Michaelmas (29 September) and Christmas Day (25 December) – date to at least the Middle Ages, when they marked the four points at which rents fell due, servants were hired, and legal accounts had to be settled and publicly recorded. They were chosen not for astronomical precision, though they fall roughly near the equinoxes and solstices, but for memorability: in a largely illiterate society, a religious feast day was easier to keep track of than a date on a page. Lady Day, the Feast of the Annunciation, was so central to this system that it served as the first day of the legal and civil year in England until the calendar reform of 1752 shifted the new year to the 1st of January. Its ghost survives in the British tax year, which still begins on the 6th of April – Lady Day, nudged forward by the eleven days lost when the Gregorian calendar replaced the Julian. Scotland, characteristically, kept its own set of “term days” – Candlemas, Whitsunday, Lammas and Martinmas – which never quite lined up with the English calendar either. Two Calendars, One Crossing Point So the relationship between the two systems turns out to be one of contrast rather than continuity. Bank holidays are a Victorian invention, designed to give the world of finance and industry an orderly, predictable rest; quarter days are a medieval one, designed to keep the world of rent, tenure and debt equally orderly. The two overlap at exactly one point in the year: Christmas Day, which happens to sit at the crossing of both calendars, arriving as a common law holiday and a quarter day in the same twenty-four hours. Everywhere else, the two systems run on quite separate tracks – one built for leisure, the other for obligation – a reminder that behind Britain’s most casual traditions there is usually a longer and rather more particular story than the name suggests.
Gapuma × Clariant: A Fortnight in the Global Spotlight
12 August 2026 Two weeks ago, Clariant – one of the world’s most respected names in speciality chemicals – named Gapuma Group its non-exclusive distributor for West Africa, entrusting us with the HOSTADRILL®, HOSTAMER® and HOSTASTIM® Well Service Additives ranges across Nigeria, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana. For a distributor built on years of regional trust, being chosen by a partner of Clariant’s standing is exactly the kind of validation that cannot be bought. What followed exceeded even that. The announcement was carried by trade and business press across Africa, the Gulf, Asia and South America – close to a dozen titles in all – before landing, days later, in World Oil, one of the US energy sector’s most authoritative trade voices. George Nunes, head of Clariant Oil Services, called it a partnership that “advances our route-to-market strategy” in a region of growing demand. A fortnight on, that is the story we are proudest to share – not just the announcement, but everything it went on to earn. Read World Oil’s coverage in full below: Clariant expands well service additives distribution across West Africa
As Quake Hits Country, Gapuma Stands with Colombia
11 August 2026 All of us at Gapuma Group have been following the news from Colombia this week with great concern. The earthquake that struck western Colombia on Monday, its epicentre near San José del Palmar in Chocó, has claimed well over a hundred lives, with serious damage across Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdó. Rescue teams continue their work as the full scale of the disaster emerges. Colombia has long been a valued friend to Gapuma, and this week our first thoughts are with its people – those searching for loved ones, and the emergency workers giving everything to help. Among our own team is Monica Bernal, whose family calls Colombia home; we have been in close contact with her throughout. We also have a colleague in Medellín, Luis Felipe Quintero, whom we have not yet reached directly. Medellín felt the quake strongly, with precautionary evacuations and a brief metro suspension, but unlike Cali, Pereira, Manizales and Quibdó, no serious damage or casualties have been reported there so far. We continue trying to reach him and remain hopeful. Our Group CEO, Jack Bardakjian, said: “Monica and Luis Felipe are part of the Gapuma family, and our first thoughts were with them when the news broke. We’ve stayed close to Monica throughout, and we’re doing everything we can to reach Luis Felipe. Colombia has always held a special place for us at Gapuma, and it does so now more than ever. To everyone across the country affected – please know we are thinking of you, and hoping, with everything we have, for your safety and for Colombia’s swift recovery.” To our friends, partners and colleagues across Colombia: you are in our thoughts. We wish you strength in the days ahead, and a swift return to normality.
Félicitations, Côte d’Ivoire: Gapuma Marks Independence Day with Renewed Commitment
7 August 2026 On Friday, Côte d’Ivoire celebrates 66 years of independence, marking the anniversary of the day in 1960 when the West African nation broke from French colonial rule under its first president, Félix Houphouët-Boigny. For Gapuma Group, the occasion falls at a significant point in its growing relationship with the country. The company has confirmed that a new warehouse facility – part of its long-term commitment to Côte d’Ivoire – will open before the end of the year, expanding its storage and distribution capability and strengthening its ability to serve Ivorian customers and partners. The investment reflects a wider philosophy that runs through Gapuma’s operations. Local content is not treated as a peripheral concern but as central to how the company works, shaping decisions on hiring, supply chains and partnerships across its West African markets, which include Ghana and Nigeria alongside Côte d’Ivoire. Wherever it operates, Gapuma focuses on developing local skills, creating jobs and retaining value within the communities it serves. Côte d’Ivoire’s history since independence has been marked by rapid economic growth. Gapuma points to that trajectory as exactly the kind of market its local-content philosophy is designed to support. This 7th August Gapuma is delighted to extend its congratulations to the people of Côte d’Ivoire, and looks forward to continuing to build and grow alongside this dynamic, vibrant nation.
Gapuma’s First Aiders Keep Their Skills Sharp
31 July 2026 Yannick Annor, Assistant Manager – Supply Chain, and Vaibhav Raj Thakkar, Procurement Consultant, have both completed a first aid refresher course with St John Ambulance. Both are also qualified Fire Marshals, adding a further layer of preparedness to the Gapuma team. Yannick reflected on the experience: “Thanks St John Ambulance and the trainer for this excellent first aid refresher course. I first completed the training three years ago, so it was a great opportunity to refresh my knowledge and reinforce the skills I had already learned. While I’m not an expert, this course was a valuable reminder of such an important life skill. I’m grateful for the opportunity to keep my first aid knowledge up to date.” Their refresher follows Jing Zeng’s own qualification as a trained First Aider earlier this month – a reminder that this is not a one-off effort but a standard the whole team is holding itself to. It is a small but telling example of Gapuma’s continuing commitment to the health and safety of its own people, and of the wider community around it – a trained First Aider, after all, may be called upon at any moment, without warning, to help.
Gapuma Welcomes Its Newest First Aider
23 July 2026 Gapuma Group is pleased to confirm that Jing Zheng, Procurement Officer, has qualified as a trained First Aider following an intensive course at the St John Ambulance training centre in Ealing/Hammersmith [wasn’t sure please emend as required]. Jing becomes the latest member of the Gapuma team to take on this responsibility, joining Yannick Annor and Ash Unadkat as one of three designated First Aiders at the company’s West London head office. Yannick returns to the same course next week – in his case, a refresher, to ensure his knowledge stays current. In the video attached, Jing talks through three key things she took from the day’s training. Reflecting afterwards, she had a simple message for colleagues: eat and drink slowly, walk carefully, and stay alert to your surroundings – above all, take responsibility for your own safety. It speaks to something wider than one course or one qualification: Gapuma’s continuing commitment to the health and safety of its people, and of the community around it, since a trained First Aider may be called upon at any moment, without warning, to help. Below she describes her experiences…
Full Time: Gapuma World Cup Sweepstake has its champion
20 July 2026 Weeks of predictions, no small number of upsets and plenty of office bragging rights came down to a photo finish. After a stiff, closely fought competition, Neha put in a dominant display against determined resistance, but held her nerve to push over the line in extra time and defeat Ash for the top prize. Spain’s number one was solid throughout with barely a shot getting past her all tournament. A solid wall of certainty, right to the final whistle. Neha now holds the Gapuma Sweepstake title for the next four years. On current form, she’ll be expected to be lead her nation once again come the next World Cup – when the tournament heads to Spain, Portugal and Morocco, and Neha, fittingly, takes up co-host duties too. Congratulations, Neha – a worthy champion. And to Ash, runner-up by the finest of margins: there’s always the next time, but not for FOUR YEARS.
Messing About on the River: Gapuma’s Hawaiian Hula Cruise
16th July 2026 There is a particular kind of English absurdity in dressing several dozen commodities and chemicals professionals in leis and grass skirts, loading them onto a pleasure craft, and setting off down the Thames – but absurdity, handled properly, is close cousin to joy, and Gapuma’s Group Summer Activity aboard the SS Hibernia delivered rather a lot of both. The cruise began in Henley-on-Thames and headed downriver, tracing the Henley Royal Regatta course past Medmenham Abbey – two of the straightest kilometres on the Thames, cut a century ago because nothing straighter could be found. A fortnight earlier this stretch had roared with crews and crowds; now the grandstands were half-dismantled, the towpath quiet, the whole apparatus of the Regatta being quietly folded away for another year. It made for a strange, pleasant melancholy – summer’s grandest fixture undressing itself in real time. Off Medmenham, the boat ran alongside a livelier piece of theatre: the Swan Uppers of the Crown, the Vintners and the Dyers, out in their skiffs for the Catch and the Marking. It is one of the more delightful oddities of English river life that only these three parties may lawfully own or mark a mute swan on open water – a privilege the Crown has held since the twelfth century, and one it extended to the two City livery companies in the reign of Edward IV, when a 1482 statute restricted swan-keeping to the properly landed and well-heeled. It was never quite a case of reserving the birds for the royal table alone; rather, a swan in the fifteenth century was less a bird than a title deed with feathers, and the Crown meant to keep it that way. The Hibernia then reversed upstream, back through Henley, through Marsh Lock, and on into the hushed reaches beyond, turning for home just short of Sonning. Here the afternoon found its rhythm: the Gapuma Piña Paradise – commissioned specially for the occasion – circulating freely, the DJ moving deftly between cruising classics and tunes anticipating England’s clash with Argentina that evening, and a dancefloor that showed no inclination to empty. Deepa delectable food ran alongside it all without ever missing a beat. Bingo had been running throughout the day as a gloriously baffling ongoing competition, joined later by a Know Your Bosses quiz that revealed rather more about the leadership team than perhaps intended. It closed, as these things should, with an awards ceremony of high theatre and higher scrutiny: Shilpa crowned best theme-dressed woman, Luka taking the male honours, Kasia declared Queen of the Hula, and our guest of honour Kojo Jones-Mensah confirmed as its King, to absolutely nobody’s surprise. By five o’clock, on a balmy, sun-soaked afternoon perfectly suited to cruising and messing about on the river, the Hibernia was back alongside at Henley – leis a little wilted, grass skirts a little worse for wear, and the whole party thoroughly reluctant to disembark.