Steve Parker and Tim Dolder of Opus Restructuring were appointed to Hastings Printing Company on 3 August and the firm ceased trading the same day, with all 33 employees made redundant.
The circa £3m turnover firm was established in 1915, and had been owned by the Knoll family since 1978, with a number of family members working at the business.
It had developed a specialism in printing collateral such as posters and programmes for the entertainment industry, alongside magazines and corporate literature.
Opus said that 50% of the firm’s sales were in the highly-competitive magazine printing market, and Hastings had found it difficult to compete due to a lack of investment in the latest printing technology.
At the end of last year 80% of the company was acquired by Paul Denne, the managing director of nearby Manor Group in Eastbourne.
Opus said that Denne “hoped to turn around Hastings Printing Company and integrate it with his other activities. Unfortunately, it proved impossible to get the business back onto a profitable and sound financial footing.”
Parker said Hastings Printing Company had fallen victim to the printing industry’s “perennial malaise” of low margins and stiff price competition, and described the situation as “incredibly sad”.
“It was equally disappointing to have to make long-serving employees redundant after all they had done to try to help the new owner rescue the company,” he said.
Hastings Printing Company had debts of around £700,000, including circa £330,000 owed to suppliers. The administrators hope to be able to make a distribution to creditors, but it is too early to say how much is likely to be available for any payout.
Parker said there was still a chance that part of the business could be rescued through a trade sale.
Hastings had run an eight-colour KBA Rapida 105 alongside five-colour B1 and B2-format Komori Lithrones. It also had in-house finishing and mailing facilities. However, PrintWeek understands that some of its equipment had been sold off prior to the administration as part of an attempt to keep the business going.
Denne was on holiday at the time of writing and unavailable for comment.
