Originally incorporated in 1977 as a design and print management firm, becoming a Limited Liability Partnership in 2002, EVC launched a print production arm after acquiring a small litho printing firm that had entered administration owing EVC “a considerable sum of money”, according to company chairman and founder Raymond Curtis.
The company has a press line-up at its Pangbourne, Berkshire facility of a six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster SX 74, which was installed in 2012 to replace a nine-year-old CD 74, two Heidelberg GTO 52s and a range of finishing kit. EVC was awarded a £154,800 Regional Growth Fund grant in 2012 to finance the Heidelberg investment.
The business built a portfolio of clients for whom it printed magazines, brochures, posters and direct mail as well as continuing to provide design consultancy and print management services.
But Curtis said after a number of problems in the past few years, the business was simply no longer sustainable and placed the company into a CVL on 28 February, making all staff redundant.
He explained: “In 2010 we took a massive hit from The Print Factory when it collapsed, to the tune of £147,000, although I managed to save the business at the time.
“But over the past two years, the industry overall has become very difficult to work with and one of our clients taking large discounts and eating into our added value.”
Added to that, Curtis said the company had recently expected to take on work from a new client but a restructure within that firm meant that EVC didn’t get the anticipated business after all.
“It was becoming more and more difficult and I was watching things generally sliding. The end result is that I decided to take the responsible decision while we were still solvent to go into voluntary liquidation,” he said.
Curtis said he had been consulting on his options for the best part of five months, but hadn’t wanted to do anything before Christmas.
"I really didn’t want to make people redundant at that time of year, so I held on to it as long as I could. Curtis said he and a few members of staff, who he was paying from his own finances, were still on site completing some work.
“Having had this company for 40 years, I am devastated; it’s been my baby from the word go. My reputation in the industry has always been one of good quality and stability and accountability, so this is really tough,” Curtis added.
In its consolidated accounts for the 12 months to 31 March 2013 the company made £121,707 net profit on a turnover of £2.9m. Trade creditors were owed £509,220, at the time.
