The Shipley, West Yorkshire family-run business employs almost 170 people across the group, which comprises Regent Greeting Cards and Regent Envelopes.
According to a source the business intends to cut its workforce by as much as 50% following an ongoing 90-day consultation, although this is unconfirmed.
A statement released by the company on 11 October said: “Regrettably a significant number of redundancies are anticipated within the Regent Group of companies. The companies will be consulting with their respective workforces before any numbers are confirmed.
“The Regent Group intends to retain a smaller, more flexible manufacturing presence at its existing Shipley location, ensuring more appropriate product manufacture to complement the group’s international sourcing, which will better meet the product needs of the group’s customers.”
The company cited a significant bad debt suffered in 2012, when its biggest customer went into administration, for the current problems.
Requests for further comment were declined.
The circa £15m-turnover business manufactures envelopes, greetings cards and giftwrap at its UK facility as well as sourcing cards, giftbags and party novelties from abroad, predominantly China.
Regent Greetings Cards’ clients include supermarkets, high street retailers and wholesale distributors, while the group’s envelope division manufactures cards for greeting card publishers and bespoke commercial customers.
