The last of the work-in-progress at the Redditch point-of-sale printer was completed on Wednesday (1 August).

The firm was placed into administration with Duff & Phelps by owners SelmerBridge on 24 July, and since then 340 out of 371 staff have been made redundant.

A spokesperson for joint administrators Allan Graham and Matt Ingram said that 31 employees remained on site to help customers with the collection of stock and to make preparations for the sale of the plant and machinery.

“It is envisaged that all staff will be made redundant by the end of August,” the spokesperson said.

PrintWeek also understands that the administrators have assured employees that their employee and employer pension contributions made since the business changed hands in March will be repaid, after questions were raised regarding the completeness of the contributions.  

Kit at the SP site includes a 12-year-old Koenig & Bauer Rapida 205 VLF litho press, and an older Rapida 162 press. SP also has a number of large-format digital presses and an extensive finishing setup, including platens and mounting machines.

The two new HP Indigo B2 digital presses that were only installed in May, were leased. 

Sales at SP Group were around £40m at the time it was sold, according to SelmerBridge director Landry Kouakou. 

Separately, it has now been confirmed that Whitbread has turned to Inspired Thinking Group (ITG) in Birmingham for a provisional solution for its point-of-sale needs.

A Whitbread spokesperson told PrintWeek: “We can confirm the interim appointment of ITG to manage the creation and delivery of all in store point-of-sale collateral across all Whitbread brands.”

Whitbread brands include Costa Coffee and Premier Inn.