St Regis Paper company has outlined its plans for East Lancashire Paper mill after buying the site and assets for an undisclosed sum from administrator Arthur Andersen (PrintWeek, 19 January).


St Regis commercial director Geoff Hill said it was very early days, but that it was likely that the firm would look to sell the site for development.


Hill said that the four paper machines at East Lancashire mill were small by St Regis standards, so the main area of interest was its finishing and stock preparation equipment.
"We may look to spread the equipment around some of the sites of our parent company, David S Smith," Hill said.


He added that the rest of the kit would be sold on the secondhand market.


"With a mill [Hollins Paper mill] at Darwen, only 15 miles from the East Lancashire site, there were no plans to have an operation at Radcliffe," he said.


Plans for the development of the site are dependent on approval from Bury Council.


Hill thought the whole operation would take at least a year to be resolved.


East Lancashire Paper appointed an administrator in January and the mill closed its doors in February after the administrator failed to find a buyer for the 139-year-old company.


Story by Andy Scott