Creditors of print farmer Houseprint Ltd, which traded as The Printing House from a central London address, were sent a letter yesterday (31 August) from Gary Stones of Stones & Co in Swansea.
The letter stated: “We would inform that we have withdrawn our firm’s services today and hence that tomorrow’s creditors’ meeting has been cancelled.”
Stones & Co apologised for the inconvenience and said that all future queries regarding Houseprint should be directed to the company’s director.
Clair Rosina Hunnisett, who has a registered address on Barry Island in Wales, is the sole director of Houseprint.
Stones & Co had met with Hunnisett and her business associate Stuart John, whose full name is Neill Malcolm Stuart John, on 18 August when Stones & Co was appointed to put the business into creditors’ voluntary liquidation.
However, due to the cancellation of the meeting and associated procedures, Stones & Co said Houseprint Ltd had not actually been placed into liquidation.
One insolvency expert told PrintWeek that the situation was extremely unusual.
“This is very, very odd. I can only imagine that the liquidator in waiting worked out that there were insufficient assets for him to get paid. Or that a previous promise by a director or shareholder to put the liquidator in funds so he could get paid fell through,” he said.
PrintWeek has been contacted by a number of unhappy Houseprint customers whose print orders were delivered late or only in part, or where the print quality of jobs eventually received was not of an acceptable standard.
The company is understood to use a number of overseas printers.
Hunnisett is also the sole director of a newly-active business, UK Print Ltd, which is now operating from the same registered office – 3rd Floor 14 Hanover Street, London W1S 1YH – as used by Houseprint/The Printing House.
The description of UK Print Ltd’s product offering of printed books, catalogues and magazines is identical to that used by Houseprint trading as The Printing House.
PrintWeek was unable to reach Hunnisett or John for comment.
Houseprint Ltd trading as The Printing House is entirely unconnected to Crewe-based The Printing House Ltd.
UK Print Ltd is entirely unconnected to UKPrint.biz, which is a trading name of Ruby Giraffe Ltd of Manchester.
