David Taylor and Paul Ellison of KRE Corporate Recovery were appointed joint administrators to Chroma Group Limited, based in the Theale area of Reading, on 28 February 2025.

Chroma Group was previously known as Conservatree Print and Design, prior to a rebrand in 2021. It served customers including B2B and corporate clients and its most recent annual turnover was just shy of £3m.

The company’s directors told Printweek that the closure was not a pre-pack situation and that the company ceased trading on 28 February, with all 21 staff made redundant and work in progress unable to be completed.

The closure followed a tough January that saw it fall way short of its sales target. The administrators explored the possibility of a sale when they were called in but quickly felt that the best course of action would be to cease trading to avoid putting the company’s suppliers at any further risk.

In a statement, managing director Chris Goslar and operations director Justin Earl told Printweek that it was “with deep regret” that the business had entered administration after 30 years of dedicated service to clients across the UK and Europe.

“The company has faced insurmountable challenges that have led to this difficult decision.

“Throughout our three decades in the industry, we have been privileged to work with an exceptional team of staff who have consistently delivered excellence.

“Their dedication and hard work have been the backbone of our success, and we are profoundly grateful for their contributions.”

The directors added: “Unfortunately, the increasing costs of operation have placed significant strain on the business. This situation was exacerbated when a major customer, a large print management company, withdrew all work without notice.

“This unexpected loss of business severely impacted our revenue stream. Additionally, cashflow was further compromised by Amazon withholding substantial funds from one of our clients. This compounded our financial difficulties and left us with no viable path forward.”

The directors told Printweek that the lost major customer had a circa-£50,000 to £100,000 monthly spend with Chroma but almost overnight stopped sending enquiries and orders despite telling the business on several occasions that it was a valued supplier and that there were no issues.

The directors added in their statement: “We are immensely grateful to our loyal customers, partners, and employees who have been with us through thick and thin. Your support has been invaluable, and we cherish the relationships we’ve built.”

In 2021 Chroma had brought flatbed printing in-house for the first time with the installation of a Yotta Fr2513-R5 printer and a Sinajet DK2513 cutter.

It followed this with the installation of a Gibson flatbed printer and other smaller finishing equipment to increase its efficiency, largely to support the work of its major client.

This was all part of a big expansion at the time that saw the business double its floorspace with the addition of a second adjacent leased unit. It also operated kit including an HP Indigo 7900 digital press and an RMGT litho press.

The administrators are currently dealing with the company’s assets, with further detail unavailable at the time of writing – KRE Corporate Recovery had not yet responded to a request for comment.

Goslar further commented: “If we felt we could trade out of the situation then we would have done, but I think we would have needed quite a bit more finance to do so.

“When we found out there was a challenge, we immediately made three staff members redundant, but because we’d taken on a new building next door and spent around £250,000 in new equipment over the last four or five years, it was just too much of an investment and expense on the P&L for us to recover quickly.

“What I would make very clear – particularly with the suppliers – is that the current directors – myself, Justin, and Cindy [Goslar, finance director] were in no way going to benefit at all from this company closing down.”

He added: “This has been an incredibly challenging time for us. We are deeply saddened by this outcome but remain proud of the legacy we have built over the past 30 years.”

Earl further added: “For all that has happened, I am pleased to say we were able to ensure all the staff were paid in full and almost without exception were very kind and sympathetic to Chris and myself, which was heartwarming indeed and a testament to what a great team and business we had.”