Specialist business rescue and insolvency company McTear Williams & Wood has been engaged to assist Bendart Ltd, which traded as Blackwell Print, with a view to placing the company into liquidation.
The firm said Blackwell, which provided a full service print offering throughout the East of England and countrywide, had seen its margins steadily erode due to external price pressures and ever rising raw material, employment, and energy costs, combined with a high level of historical debt acquired through the Covid-19 pandemic.
It was therefore felt that there was no alternative but to put the company into voluntary liquidation.
The firm employed 16 members of staff at its 1,050sqm leased premises in the Norfolk coastal town, with all made redundant with effect from Thursday (27 February), when the business ceased trading.
Jo Watts, a director at McTear Williams & Wood, said: “It is a shame for Great Yarmouth to lose such a well-established business but the effect on the company’s margins is too great to manage, leaving the directors with no other choice.”
Watts told Printweek that while a date had not yet been sent, it was estimated that McTear Williams & Wood would be appointed as the liquidator of Blackwell Print around the week commencing 24 March.
She added there was a proposed sale of business being offered to interested parties, including customer lists, the Blackwell Print website, and the website for Blackwell’s online photo printing service Paperwave.
The company’s plant and machinery is expected to be dealt with separately but Watts said anyone interested should contact McTear Williams & Wood.
Blackwell Print operated kit including a Heidelberg B2 litho press and had installed a Horizon BQ-270 perfect binder in September.
Watts added that, at present due to the known value of assets, it was unlikely there would be funds available for unsecured creditors.
Some of the company’s staff had posted on LinkedIn at the end of last week that the business had closed.
Managing director Tom Davison, who was part of a three-person management buyout of the company in 2023, said on the social platform on Friday: “I hoped I’d never have to write this post, but yesterday my business failed and closed with immediate effect.
“It’s not for lack of effort or dedication, but those involved in print know the industry’s challenges and unfortunately I was unable to steer Blackwell Print through it.”
He further thanked his team, suppliers, and industry contacts for their support and well wishes.
Davison told Printweek that all staff were paid, apart from the three owners/directors, and that all staff pension contributions were up to date.
He said the company’s failure “was not for want of trying – the directors have given it their all and staff were paid and not left in the lurch”.
“The company was in a challenging position when we took over in June 2023 and we were unable to unfortunately drag it up sufficiently to make it work,” he added.
