Phil Clark and Dave Clark of Clark Business Recovery were appointed joint administrators of Pocklington-based family-run print company Northwolds Richardson Group Ltd on 21 August.
The business was formed in May 2023 following the merger of North Wolds Printers and Wood Richardson.
North Wolds was established in 1978 while Wood Richardson’s heritage dates back to 1905. Together, Northwolds Richardson Group had a turnover of around £2.5m and operated Komori litho presses and Xerox digital printers.
A statement released yesterday (19 September) by business sale asset advisory firm Walker Singleton, which is overseeing the Northwolds Richardson auction, said that a decline in orders and turnover led the group to undertake a review of the business and that it subsequently sought the protection of an administration order.
“However, following a brief marketing exercise conducted by Walker Singleton, on behalf of the company and its advisors, a sale of the intellectual property including, the name, orders, website, domain name and customer lists was secured to AB Print Group Ltd.”
Northwolds Richardson had employed 18 staff according to its website, but Walker Singleton told Printweek the business has now closed and its staff were not part of the deal to AB Print Group.
According to its website, Batley, West Yorkshire-based commercial printer AB Print Group completes all of its many print services in-house. It runs two Komori Lithrone litho presses and digital kit from Ricoh and Fujifilm as well as Sias screen printing equipment.
Following the business sale, Walker Singleton is now conducting the online auction of Northwolds Richardson Group’s assets and has invited bids for the company’s printing, finishing machinery, and operational equipment.
The auction includes a range of printing and finishing machinery from manufacturers including Heidelberg, Epson, HP, Muller Martini, Polar, Agfa, and Stahl.
There is also a range of storage, handling, and dispatching equipment for sale, as well as IT and office items. All of the lots can be viewed online here.
Interested parties are able to bid for the assets online until the auction closes next Thursday (26 September), from 12 pm. Viewings of the sale are by appointment only, via the agents.
Walker Singleton director Stephen Jones said: “Northwolds Richardson burgeoned a strong reputation for quality products and service within the printing industry.
“Unfortunately, the trading challenges that have developed over recent years have proved too great. We are pleased to sell the intellectual property of the business and now conduct an online sale.
“We anticipate the auction will attract interest from competitor printing businesses, as well as graphic designers, looking to secure high quality printing and finishing machinery.”
Jones further told Printweek today: “We were on site yesterday doing some viewings and we’ve got some more viewings next week. Interest so far has been UK-based and from mid-sized printers, which is the target market.”
Printweek has also approached Northwolds Richardson managing director Gurdev Singh and administrator Phil Clark, but neither commented separately to Walker Singleton – which was acting on behalf of Clark Business Recovery.
