Jo Watts and Andrew McTear of McTear Williams & Wood in Norwich were appointed as liquidators of Bendart Limited, which traded as Blackwell Print, on 8 April according to filings at The Gazette.
Last month, McTear Williams & Wood told Printweek that Blackwell – which had a history stretching back to 1870 – had seen its margins steadily erode due to external price pressures and ever rising raw material, employment, and energy costs, combined with a high level of historical debt acquired through the Covid-19 pandemic.
The business employed 16 staff at its 1,050sqm leased premises in the Norfolk coastal town, with all made redundant on 27 February, when the business ceased trading.
Watts told Printweek last month: “It is a shame for Great Yarmouth to lose such a well-established business but the effect on the company’s margins is too great to manage, leaving the directors with no other choice.”
Blackwell Print operated kit including a Heidelberg B2 litho press and had installed a Horizon BQ-270 perfect binder in September.
Managing director Tom Davison, who was part of a three-person management buyout of the company in 2023, previously told Printweek that all staff were paid, apart from the three owners/directors, and that all staff pension contributions were up to date.
He had said the company’s failure “was not for want of trying – the directors have given it their all and staff were paid and not left in the lurch”.
“The company was in a challenging position when we took over in June 2023 and we were unable to unfortunately drag it up sufficiently to make it work.”
At the time of writing, there had been no update on any sale of the company’s assets, including customer lists and its plant and machinery.
