The new business has been set up by Dave Wright and Peter Wood as 50:50 shareholders. Wright was sales director at the Mailbox operation and worked as a consultant to Taylor Bloxham for that part of the business, while Wood was head of operations.
Mailbox DM has acquired the trading name, intellectual property and assets of the division, which will continue to operate from its existing premises in Leicester.
Wright said that 21 employees had have been given “seamless employment” and received their wages at the end of last week as scheduled, while the assets had been acquired from the administrators at FRP Advisory at “fair market value”.
Wright also said that he had been hoping to buy the business for some months prior to Taylor Bloxham’s fall into administration on 6 February, with talks first taking place last summer.
“We would have liked to buy it without this event, and the desire was there to buy it as a going concern,” he explained.
“That would have given the group some cash and been an all-round good thing. We could then have been a strategic partner to Taylor Bloxham.”
In a letter to customers Wright stated: “The form of transaction was not Mailbox DM’s preferred route, but indeed the only one available as Taylor Bloxham’s position became unsustainable as a going concern.”
He told Printweek that customers had been “really supportive” about last week’s buyout. The firm works for a range of clients including print management companies, charities and retailers.
“They know how hard it’s been for us for the past few weeks. They like what we do and they know the team, and there’s a great team of people here who are passionate about the business.”
He emphasised that the division was “absolutely sustainable” as a standalone operation, and did not suffer from the issues that had afflicted the wider group. The run rate for turnover is expected to be around the £3m mark, compared with £4.5m previously.
Mailbox DM offers a range of direct mail service from low- to high-volume, including reel-fed lasering, polywrapping, and hand fulfilment. It installed a new Nipson VP200 high-speed mono system in August 2019.
