ICSM Business – Printing Industry Insolvency News: collapsing firms citing debts and energy costs, Mailbox’s prepack, Works Manchester’s £600K HMRC liability, plus list of recent insolvencies
By Harry Mottram: The continued problems within the printing industry and allied trades that include historic Covid loan repayments, bad debts, high cost of borrowing and energy and fuel hikes have seen more firms go to the wall. This month has seen Gemini Print hit the buffers while even the mighty de la Rue is contemplating its future survival. Print Week continues to be the leading voice of the industry and to read more stories on the business see https://www.printweek.com/
Ian Carrotte of ICSM said: “We have many members who in the print trade and it has been a period of contraction – mainly due to the rise of the internet and decline of the printed press, magazine and brochures. But some sectors have don better such as packaging and out old friend the flyer. With the election for instance there have been literally millions of leaflets printed to promote candidates and political parties. The problem arises through a combination of factors. Debt is the main reason for most company collapse – made worse by interest rates rising – and any downturn in business.”
Gemini Print
Writing in the trade publication Print Week journalist Richard Stuart-Turner reported this month that Gemini print appointed Jonathan James Beard and John Walters of Begbies Traynor Central as administrators. Based in Shoreham-by-Sea, West Sussex, the company shut up shop on June 3, 2024, making the 126 workers redundant. The business issued a statement blaming according to Print Week, “including the impact of the Covid pandemic on trading, steep increases in rental and energy costs, and a substantial debt owed to the company that remains unpaid and is likely to become the subject of legal proceedings.”
A fire sale was organised to sell company cars and vans, Heidelberg cylinders and platens, Epson wide-format printers, a wide range of specialist finishing kit and various warehousing and office equipment to offset the debts which at time of going to press were undisclosed.
Mailbox
Leicester based Mailbox owed more than £650,000 when they went bust this year. A report from the administrators Louise Williams and Paul Mallatratt of Opus Restructuring revealed the firm owed hundreds of thousands of pounds. Their draft Statement of Affairs showed that the company owed £657,337 while unsecured creditors, were owed £218,127 – many of whom were trade creditors.
The statement of administrator’s proposal for Mailbox DM Ltd has been released and showed that the company – whose business and assets were bought by DMC Encore in a pre-pack sale – had an estimated deficiency of over £650,000 when it went into administration last month.
Opus Restructuring organised a pre-pack sale of the company’s business and assets to DMC Encore for a sum of £10,000 which included 14 members of staff transferred to the buyer. It meant that that the firm not only owed trade creditors cash, their funders who supplied Covid loans but also HMRC.
Ian Carrotte of ICSM said it again showed some of the negative sides of pre-packs with trade creditors not being paid and some staff losing their jobs. The firm had previously gone bust in 2020 and had been rescued at the time from administration.
Surepak
A fire sale was held by administrators of Surepak’s assets to raise cash to pay off creditors after the Nottingham firm collapsed in May 2024 owing hundreds of thousands of pounds. The sale included minor machinery alongside a car, van, and a significant amount of palletised stock, including plastic films and bags.
Administrators Dean Nelson and Nick Lee wound up the business and put £250,000 worth of stock up for sale at auction after a sale of the firm fell through.
“The administrators are disappointed with the ultimate outcome in not securing a sale of the business and assets as a going concern,” PKF Smith Cooper said in a statement. Polypouch, based in Hemel Hempstead bought the tangible assets.
Inkthreadable
Print Week have reported that Inkthreadable has phoenixed after it went bust with the original founders buying the company. Dominc Bernard of the trade publication noted: “Following a rapid expansion, on-demand apparel printer Inkthreadable has been bought in a pre-pack administration by Hyper Merch, the new company headed by its founding directors. The web-to-print custom clothing company appointed Mark Colman and Megan Singleton of Leonard Curtis joint administrators on 28 February, with the sale to Hyper Merch, the new business of Inktreadable directors Alexander and Amy Cunliffe, taking place the same day for £130,000. Hyper Merch now trades as Inkthreadable.”
The Pre-Pack Pool reviewed the sale and gave the green light. For the deal. Dominic Bernard reported: “According to the administrators, unsecured creditors were estimated to be owed £1.4m and there was not expected to be any form of distribution. The estimated total deficiency is £2.18m. Robson Kay Associates was instructed to value the drop-shipping specialist, before marketing it alongside Leonard Curtis as a going concern. Of 20 interested parties, just three put forward offers. Two unconnected parties offered £90,000 and £101,000 each, subject to contract; Hyper Merch, the Cunliffes’ bidco, offered £130,000, payable on completion, with no complicating conditions. The sale was completed the same day, and the firm’s 23 employees – about 20 fewer than worked at the firm at its height – have transferred over to Hyper Merch under TUPE.”
Works Manchester
Back in the winter Works Manchester failed as a business racked up a PAYE liability with HMRC of over half a million pounds during the period it was owned by PFI Group. In 2022 the business was bought by Rymack Sign Solutions, which traded as PFI Group. However the £3.17 million pound deal was not completed as PFI failed to pay up tipping the business into insolvency and administration with administrators David Acland and Anthony Collier of FRP Advisory last year.
There was further problems with HMRC with the firm £600,000 in arrears while in total the company owed over four million pounds to creditors and lenders.
Print Week’s Jo Francis reported: “FRP’s estimate of the Works Manchester financial position found that creditors owed £4.7m, with trade creditors owed £1.43m. ‘Associated companies’ are owed £188,231. HMRC’s secondary preferential claim totals £866,928. FRP also found that there are unpaid pension contributions. IGF, owed £513,957, had a debenture and is likely to be repaid in full. Unsecured creditors are unlikely to receive anything. The estimated total deficiency is just under £4.6m, including £1m with the Redundancy Payments Office.”
Ian Carrotte of ICSM said it was a classic example of a firm over reaching itself and leaving a financial mess where the staff, suppliers and traders lose out on a huge scale.
Some recent insolvencies:
1 PRINTING AND ALLIED TRADES
ADMINISTRATORS APPOINTED
DEANPRINT LIMITED 00030846
DISCIPLE MEDIA LIMITED 08075740
ECO PACKAGING PRODUCTS LTD….12461490
GEMINI PRINT SOUTHERN LIMITED 08530704
GREENSHIRES GROUP LIMITED 00759321
KD EVENTS AND PUBLISHING LTD 12111708
OXFORD PACKAGING SOLUTIONS LIMITED 01038677
SEVERNPRINT LIMITED 01317797
TRIFLEX PRODUCTIONS LIMITED 04316087
WINNERSH FILM STUDIOS LTD 13616828
ADMINISTRATION MEETING OF CREDITORS
MONUMENT PAPER BAG CO LIMITED (THE) 00481099
CREDITORS’ VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATION DEEMED IN CONSENT MEETINGS
2011 TRADING LIMITED 07871384
ABACUS PRINT LIMITED
AD PUBLICITY LIMITED
AF PALLETS LIMITED 07525120
ARC ENDEAVOURS LIMITED 12868882
AURORA PRINT AND DESIGN LIMITED 09493944
AUTOGRAPH SIGNS LIMITED
BDR LIMITED 03270790
BLUE BUBBLE BOOKS LIMITED 11294791
CARRICK CREATIVE LIMITED 11648984
COLOURFAST FINANCIAL LTD 06539861
COPY RIGHT PRINT SERVICES LIMITED 04639597
COPYZONE LIMITED 03370143
FULL COMMUNICATIONS MANCHESTER LIMITED 10494907
HERALD GRAPHICS LIMITED 01984482
HUNTS (LITHOPRINT) LIMITED 00678336
INSTANT SIGNS (BRISTOL) LIMITED 07821104
KENTON INSTORE LIMITED 05648792
PULSE PRINT AND COMMUNICATIONS LTD 08206224
LIONHEART PRINT LIMITED 08158102
LONG RUN MEDIA SERVICES LIMITED 06941006
M2M PRINTS LTD NI659868
MARTELLESNIC MEDIA LIMITED 09491147
MC MEDIA BUSINESS SOLUTIONS LIMITED 12004646
MELON EXPERIENCE DESIGN LTD 10643995
MIRAFIELD LIMITED 04328868
N & N SIGNS LIMITED 06869308
OLIVE GREEN PRINT & DESIGN LTD 08440749
REPRO@96 LIMITED 05484786
SEVERNPRINT LIMITED 01317797
S G TRANSPORT & PACKAGING LIMITED 04231740
THINKPAD PRINT & DESIGN LTD 06965240
TROJAN MAILING LTD 07423960
UK BOOK BINDERS LTD 07461288
URBAN STORM MANAGEMENT LIMITED
WISEPRINT SOLUTIONS LIMITED 09481056
ZONE GRAPHICS LIMITED 04196516
CVL LIQUIDATORS APPOINTED
ACANTHUS ADVERTISING LIMITED 03371345
AEOM CREATIVE LTD 11455647
A L MAILING LIMITED 07434532
ANT DESIGN STUDIO LTD
B & C (ADVERTISING) LIMITED 04521183
BENOTICED SIGNS LTD 12564036
BIZZY MARKETING LIMITED 08332076
BOLD TYPE CREATIVE LIMITED
BSI SIGNS AND SERVICES LIMITED 13868307
BLUE BUBBLE BOOKS LIMITED 11294791
COPY RIGHT PRINT SERVICES LIMITED 04639597
CULVERLANDS PRESS,LIMITED 00463040
CBE COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED 10209201
CLARK WHITE PUBLICATIONS LIMITED 02653326
DASH MEDIA LTD 12662009
HOLLIDAY CREATIVE MARKETING LIMITED
INSPACE MEDIA LTD…. 08647531
IKON DESIGNS LIMITED 04823965
J A MARKETING LIMITED 04313818
JUMPWORKS MARKETING LIMITED 10498249
LIONHEART PRINT LIMITED 08158102
PRESTIGE GRAPHIC INSTALLATIONS LIMITED 08295237
R D M DESIGN LIMITED 07261353
SGM PRINTING LIMITED 07920034
SHRINKWRAP MACHINERY CO. LIMITED 00918708
TAILOR MADE MEDIA LIMITED
THE PROGRAMMATIC ADVISORY LIMITED 10349178
WHEELER PACKAGING LIMITED 07870190
MEMBERS VOLUNTARY LIQUIDATIONS
IBIS PARCEL SERVICES LIMITED 08877008
JAMES PUBLISHING 11225703
KALIBA MARKETING LIMITED 04934059
OCEAN MEDIA MAGAZINES LIMITED 2759948
PROPER ADVERTISING LIMITED 11882026
RSR (ADVERTISING AND COMMUNICATIONS) LIMITED 03389603
SMILE PUBLISHING LIMITED 03709145
PETITION DISMISSED
ENSIGN GRAPHIC SOLUTIONS LIMITED 05015222
WELLPACK EUROPE LTD 06398419
PETITIONS TO WIND UP
CNM MARKETING LIMITED
SUNRISE PUBLISHING LTD 13221849
SECRETARY OF STATE LIQUIDATION APPOINTMENT
IMAGE 2 OUTPUT LIMITED 04899814
WINDING UP ORDERS
A & S PRINTERS 05745694
HALL MEDIA GROUP LIMITED 10617703
MANTON HOUSE PRINTING LTD 04277429
MP MEDIA LIMITED 10145102
S&T COMMUNICATIONS LIMITED 07358577
THUMP CREATIVE LTD 11198282
VISION MARKETING AND DISPLAYS LTD SC612226
YTS (YORKSHIRE) LIMITED 10598474
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