2020 01 NEWS Thomas Loughlin

Invoicing facility set up in June failed to turn things around

After 130 years in business print finishing outfit Thomas Loughlin (Liverpool) has shut up shop blaming bad debts, a lack of orders and no succession plan for the retiring managing director.

As finances became difficult last summer the firm took out an £250,000 invoicing facility with Bibby Financial Services to free up cash flow following a series of bad debts. Clearly it failed to work and the company effectively closed at the end of last month with the workforce of 20 made redundant.

Writing in Print Week’s website Jo Francis said: “The Merseyside print finishing business was established in 1891 and originally produced accounting ledgers using specialist machine ruling techniques. Its current product range included a number of miniature products such as z-fold leaflets, and miniature stitched and perfect bound products. Via its printer clients it produced work for a number of big brands including Tesco, Nike, Levi’s, Coca-Cola and Diageo.”

She reported that managing director Tony Aspey had told her the end was caused by ‘a combination of factors,’ including his retirement with plan for a succession or handover.

He told Print Week: “There’s been a massive decline in the large litho work we used to handle, everyone’s going digital and doing their own finishing in-house. We were probably the oldest perfect binder in the country and that’s non-existent now. In addition, over the last 18 months at least five litho companies have gone bust owing us money, with a related loss of turnover.”

Unrelated but also coming to an end last year were The Pur-fect Finish (Bookbinders) Limited of Tunbridge Wells and in Skelmersdale Stella Print Media have also been wound up.

For the full story by Jo Francis see https://www.printweek.com/news/article/end-of-the-line-for-historic-print-firm

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