New filings on The Gazette have confirmed that liquidators were appointed at Ancient House Press Ltd on Tuesday (14 January).
Lee De’ath and Tom Gardiner of Begbies Traynor (Central) in Colchester have been appointed as joint liquidators of the business.
The company’s statement of affairs is currently being processed at Companies House and is expected to be available in the next few days.
A spokesperson for Ancient House Press said: “The directors of Ancient House Press have made the difficult decision to appoint Begbies Traynor as administrators following the steady decline in sales.
“This resulted in the company experiencing significant financial challenges which has placed significant pressure on trading operations, meaning the business was no longer viable.”
The number of staff redundancies has not yet been confirmed and Begbies Traynor had not commented at the time of writing.
Investment company RDCP Group had acquired Ancient House Printing Group in 2021.
The directors of Ancient House Press Ltd originally filed a notice of intention to appoint an administrator on 10 December. A High Court filing at the time confirmed the business had intended to appoint De’ath and Gardiner from Begbies Traynor.
However, Sameer Rizvi, founder and CEO of RDCP Group, had told Printweek at the time that the business was undergoing a corporate restructure, which he said was being supported by its secured lender Novuna and asset finance provider Close Brothers, with the process being managed by a team at Interpath Advisory.
Rizvi subsequently told Printweek on 19 December that the company’s staff were going on leave for the Christmas break and would be back on 6 January.
But as of 6 January, the main phone number for Ancient House cut off, while several members of staff had told Printweek that the business had shut.
According to the plant list on its website, Ancient House Press operated two Komori System 38S 16pp webs and a Komori GL1040P 10-colour convertible perfecting sheetfed press with Mabeg RS 104 reel sheeter, plus a wide range of finishing kit.
The status of the company’s assets was unclear at the time of writing.
In its most recently filed full accounts at Companies House, made up to 28 February 2023, sales at Ancient House Press Ltd were up by nearly 27% to £16.32m.
