Flair/Lexicon, which included the former Northampton manufacturing business of The Print Factory (TPF) and York Mailing’s Centre Web site, is believed to have followed Alito into administration. PrintWeek understands that insolvency practitioner Zolfo Cooper was appointed on Tuesday afternoon, however, a spokesman for Zolfo Cooper said it could not confirm its appointment.
Flair was rebranded as Alito Web in June 2010 after it was announced that Alito chairman Terry Brady had acquired a controlling stake.
However, it has emerged that the agreement was merely a strategic partnership and that the two companies were never legally connected, nor did Brady – who is reportedly planning to walk away from the industry – ever take any shareholding in Flair Press.
Andrew Andronikou and Michael Kiely of insolvency practitioner UHY Hacker Young were appointed as administrators of east London-based Alito on Monday (21 February).
Alito continues to trade as normal and the administrators hope to sell the firm as a going concern. Joint managing director David Collins said that he expected the business to continue and he hoped to work with new investors going forward.
According to Collins, Alito was the victim of a backlash from suppliers who could not see beyond Flair’s connection to The Print Factory (TPF).
Commenting on the administration, he said that, having announced the tie-up with Flair Press, Alito’s suppliers began to tighten credit, with one paper supplier halving the printer’s credit limit, while others forced it to pay up front for materials.
He said: "We didn’t realise how deep the TPF wounds were. We were suddenly paying up front for paper, which you can’t do when you are turning over more than £1m a month. Terry was financially helping the Northampton site out as well and we were promised sheetfed work from them that never materialised. We even bought a new press and they don’t come cheap."
Collins claimed that Brady planned to sever his official ties with the business, but would be on hand to provide advice should it be needed. He said: "We want to ensure as quick a transition as possible and believe the business will come out stronger at the other end; we have the full support of our customers and suppliers."
Collins added that the two businesses had only ever been working together and that Brady had never taken a controlling stake in Flair Press (UK), contrary to a joint statement issued by the companies at the time.
Flair Press director Andrew Parker, who also alluded that he could walk away from print, confirmed that the companies were never officially financially connected.
He said: "As far as I am concerned, Terry (Brady) intended to do as we said at the time and take a controlling stake. In the end, it never materialised but I don’t feel as though we misled anyone by saying that."
Parker agreed that the level of sheetfed work had not been what had been expected. However, he said he did not know what was to blame for the drop-off. He added: "We didn’t get the value in either direction."
It was also confirmed that former TPF managing director Steve Brundle was acting as a sales consultant to the two companies, although both Parker and Collins stressed that he had no financial involvement with either business.
