65 jobs lost as Wolsey Press closes

The Wolsey Press in Ipswich has ceased trading with the loss of all 65 jobs after administrative receivers from Numerica realised the firm was not in a position to be sold as a going concern.

Administrative receiver Nick OReilly said: We looked at the situation and the possibility of trading on, but there was a lack of funds to do that. All staff were made redundant on Monday [11 August].

Wolsey Press managing director Colin Jennings, who was also the companys landlord, sent in bailiffs to secure back rent before he placed the firm into administrative receivership.

OReilly said the companys remaining assets would be sold and artwork returned to clients before it was liquidated.

The Wolsey Press was ranked 462 in last years PrintWeek Top 500 with a turnover of 4.3m and an estimated pre-tax profit of 177,000.

The companys presses include a six-colour Roland Rekord, five-colour Favorit, five-colour 305, two-colour 202 and a single-colour Heidelberg GTO.

The closure of Wolsey Press comes after a tough time for medium-sized printers in the Top 500. This year George Over, Rockliff Printing Group, JW Braithwaite, Ruscombe Printing and Sunstreet have all been placed into administrative receivership, while Hill & Tyler is in administration.

National Print Database partner Steve Mepham said 2003 was proving particularly difficult for medium-sized print companies. Margins have been pretty tight. Companies of this size are finding it difficult to compete with the big boys, said Mepham.