Business

It’s sad, but not exactly surprising, that the administrators at Quebecor World have pulled the plug on the Corby site this week.

In fact, the surprising news would have been if someone had bought it. The plant has been loss making for a number of years and even though the local management, workers and union were desperate for a white knight (with very deep pockets) to step in and rescue the operation, I can’t help thinking their best chance would have been if one of them had won last Friday’s £96m EuroMillions jackpot.

It goes without saying that it’s terrible news for the workers and their families but, to my mind, it’s made all the sadder because of the way it was handled by the parent firm.

I know with hindsight it’s easy to say that the plant’s closure was inevitable, but after the loss of the Associated Newspapers supplement contract in 2004, it seemed the writing was on the wall.

That means Quebecor had four years to turn it around, or come to the conclusion that its problems were terminal. While a painful decision, at least then it could have been managed properly and the workers given plenty of notice and vital support, retraining and a fair redundancy package. Now the best they can hope for is statutory redundancy.

The parent company has to bear the moral responsibility for Corby’s collapse, even if the final nail was hammered home by the last few clients moving their jobs. If they did, who can blame them? I know I don’t, and I certainly don’t blame other printers for moving quickly to pick up the work.

With overcapacity still rife, the web offset market remains tough, but at least now workers across the remaining players can feel a little more secure – even if they do share the pain of their Corby brethren.

Darryl Danielli is editor of PrintWeek.