Disaster for suppliers and staff of Spicers Office Team as firm looks set for administration as the Covid-19 crisis strikes again
Last week ICSM Credit issued a warning to all its members that Spicers Office Team known as SPOT were in danger of collapsing and urged its associates to chase down overdue invoices with the outfit.
There has been shock this week as the warning appears to have come true as the firm has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.
Writing in the trade journal Print Week Jo Francis reported: “The notice of intention to appoint administrators is for both Spicers and Office Team. Office Team is a nationwide distributor of stationery and office supplies, and its business services include print management. Spicers supplies and distributes office products and office furniture.”
Ian Carrotte of ICSM Credit said it was the worst possible news as the list of suppliers in danger of not getting paid was ‘horrendous.’ He said: “We flagged this up last month as a problem and advised members to stop granting credit to Spicers and insist on immediate payment of overdue invoices. Some have made progress on that front using our free legal letters and debt collection service but if Spicers goes then it will be on the same level as North Star when they went to the wall.”
Jo Francis quoted SPOT’s chief executive Steve Horne as saying: ““The board continue to explore all options to ensure a satisfactory future for the business and secure as many jobs as possible. Whilst we continue to look for solutions, we are committed to support and supply our customers,” Horne stated.
“During this period we remain open for business and will continue to supply our customers with any products we have in stock. Where there is an impact on our supply chain and we cannot guarantee the supply of goods, we will continue to be proactive and help our customers source these products by providing details of our suppliers, where the order could be completed directly with them in the short term.”
Jo Francis said: “SPOT had sales of £281m in its most recent accounts, for 2018. Restructuring and other costs resulted in a near-£26m operating loss. The business had around 1,440 employees at the time. This morning (29 April) SPOT’s owner Better Capital announced that it planned to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) and was proposing to cancel its listing on the London Stock Exchange. Its two funds were due to run until June 2021, but the Covid-19 situation has adversely affected its investments.”
Other news
Amey Highways Limited have received a County Court Judgement this week for the sum of £3,864 while Tui Airways Limited had two CCJs removed against their name but two new ones enforced - all around £1,000 each.
ICSM Credit
For details about ICSM Credit call 0844 854 1850 or visit the website www.icsmcredit.com or email Ian at Ian.carrotte@icsmcredit.com on how to subscribe and to join the UK’s credit intelligence network to avoid bad debts and late payers. Follow ICSM Credit on FaceBook, Twitter and YouTube and Ian Carrotte on LinkedIn.
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For details for the work of the journalist Harry Mottram visit www.harrymottram.co.uk