Industry speculation has been mounting in recent weeks about the group’s ability to keep going without a further cash injection from major backer Pricoa.
Printweek can reveal that Notices of Intention to Appoint an Administrator (NOI) were filed today (25 March) relating to web offset plants YM Chantry Ltd in Wakefield, York Mailing Ltd in York, and Pindar (Scarborough) Ltd in Scarborough.
YM Group’s other operations: The Lettershop Ltd and Go Direct Marketing Ltd in Leeds, and YM Group itself were clear of any notices at the time of writing.
Printweek understands that FRP Advisory has been running a ‘fast track’ sale process that will conclude next week.
The list of potential buyers appears small, with Walstead Group and Paragon Group the obvious names in the frame.
YM Group chief executive Stephen Goodman told Printweek that the business had been working with FRP “in an advisory role”.
“We have this morning filed Notice of Intentions to Appoint for Pindar, York Mailing and YM Chantry,” he said.
“This is by no means certain that administrators will be actually appointed, the NOI is procedural. No other company in the YM Group is affected by these NOIs,” Goodman stated.
Industry sources also told Printweek that some customers have been informed by YM that it may be unable to produce scheduled jobs.
Major customers with time-sensitive weeklies being printed at the group include Daily Mail publisher DMG Media, Bauer Media and Guardian News & Media.
“DMG and Bauer have a big problem. They have millions of pounds’ worth of paper sitting in Chantry that’s press-specific,” noted an informed source.
There is also further speculation that, depending upon what happens over the next few days, DMG could be forced to take out a ‘licence to operate’ at Chantry in order to get its titles out, or may have to accelerate its plans to bring printing of Weekend magazine in-house.
The tabloid-format Weekend has a print run of more than 1.5m copies a week, while the circulation of the smaller You title for the Mail on Sunday is around 840,000.
Bauer’s TV Choice is the biggest paid-for magazine title in the UK. It has an ABC of 1,016,951 and is 100% actively purchased, with each issue bringing in some £700k from the cover price.
In a twist of fate, DMG and Bauer were both major customers of Polestar, which pre-packed six years ago almost to the day, prior to its eventual collapse.
Unite regional officer Darren Rushworth said the union had been trying to have a meaningful dialogue with YM’s board for some time, and had been asking for clarity over the group’s financial position and its future plans.
“When you’re in trouble you need everybody’s help, but they don’t engage,” he said.
“I sent another email [to the board] last night demanding they give us an update on where they are at.
“Agency workers, who they rely on, were sent home from Chantry last night. They’re so skint they are having to cut plates down. It’s an absolute shambles at this point in time.”
In its most recent accounts, for the year ending 31 May 2020, YM Group had sales of £114.8m and made a pre-tax loss of £8.3m, up from £6.1m the prior year. The accounts also included a “material uncertainty” note from the directors regarding projected new business growth, and expected contract wins in its traditional web offset market.
At the time it employed around 817 staff.
The group’s accounts to 31 May 2021 were originally due to have been filed by 28 February, but YM agreed a three-month extension with Companies House and the new filing deadline is 28 May.
The business was also due to renew its £17m invoice finance facility with Barclays last month, while the repayment of £19m in senior loan notes owed to Pricoa, which had been pushed back by a year, are supposed to be paid back in September.
