Paper2print has been set up by joint directors David Melville and Richard Wilson, formerly key account directors at Paperlinx’s web division.
The duo have also taken on Darren King and David Riddle, who were also part of the Paperlinx web sales team.
They had all been made redundant on 1 April along with hundreds of other Paperlinx employees. “We picked up the phone to Feldmuehle on 2 April, flew out to see them, and by the time we’d landed on the return journey the deal had been agreed,” said Melville.
Paper2print, which began trading earlier this month, has become the exclusive agent for Feldmuehle’s Exceo Gloss and Silk double-coated woodfree grade in reels for the heatset web offset and CutStar markets. It is also selling the grade in sheets.
Exceo is FSC certified as standard, and is available in weights from 90-400gsm.
He added: “We’re delighted to have a new lease of life and a mill that is 100% behind us. We’re going around the marketplace with vigour and we’re all hugely enthusiastic about the future.
“We will be holding UK stock at Tilbury and that will start arriving in June from the mill."
Paper2print is also selling Feldmuehle’s Media Card single- and double-sided board range, which is targeted at packaging and greetings cards users. “It’s very similar to Trucard, so the situation at Tullis Russell has resulted in a lot of interest. Feldmuehle are looking to expand their customer base now they’re independent,” Melville noted.
Hamburg-based Feldmuehle Uetersen has a history stretching back to 1904. It became an independent mill again at the beginning of February, after Stora Enso completed the sale of the business to German private equity fund Perusa Partners.
Uetersen specialises in the production of high-quality graphic, label and packaging papers. It employs 400 staff, runs two paper machines, and has an annual capacity of around 250,000 tonnes.
Paper2print has offices in Wollaston, near Northampton. It is in the process of setting up its new website which should go live by the end of the month.
The firm can be found on Twitter @paper2print.
