60 staff made redundant as Shore to Shore set for liquidation

All 60 employees at the UK arm of global packaging giant Shore to Shore were made redundant last week (24 September) ahead of a meeting of creditors next month where the company is due to be liquidated.

It is expected that the Heanor, Derbyshire-based company will be liquidated at the meeting of creditors on 9 October, held in Nottingham. Insolvency practitioner Begbies Traynor, which has been advising the directors, is expected to be appointed.

Staff were made redundant just before pay day.

According to Peter Blair, partner at Begbies Traynor, the company went into liquidation because it couldn't afford to pay staff.

He said: "The main problem reaching the month end was that there was not enough money to pay wages and salaries. Wages were due on Friday and salaries were due early this week.

"The directors view was that it would be unfair to keep some on in uncertainty and once they realised they couldn't pay them they had to cease trading."

There is speculation in the local area that the company may continue, either with the current directors or under new leadership.

Blair said that nothing was certain at this point, but if a company did want to take the company on it would have to start "putting something in place now", with a view to making an offer at the meeting of liquidators or shortly after it.

He added: "If the current management get something off the ground there is nothing to stop them making an offer. But they would have to be prepared to compete with others as well.

"In the meantime we are trying to make it known that there are assets available, people available and there may even be a customer base available.

"When a company makes staff redundant it is difficult to sell the business as a going concern, but that would be favourable because we don't want to go down the route of an auction."

In the UK, Shore to Shore operates out of the building formerly owned by John Hampden Packaging (JHP). The company, which is headquartered in Hong Kong and the US, bought JHP in 2005. Neither of the parent company or JHP are affected by the liquidation.

Shun Keung Lau from China and Howard Kurdin from Canada are Shore to Shore's directors. UK managing director Kevin Harris resigned from his position on 11 September. Harris did not return requests for comment on the liquidation before publishing.