Complexities over Callprint UAE wing

Callprint Group's former managing director Steve Cheek has taken control of its Dubai business, and also has a fresh involvement in a UK trade printer.

The ownership of Callprint Group’s Dubai business was transferred to Cheek less than three weeks before the group filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators.

Documents filed at Companies House show that Call Print Group Ltd ceased to have a controlling interest in Call Print Express Ltd on 3 August, and on the same day Steven Wayne Cheek was registered as holding 75% or more shares in the company.

The filings were received at Companies House on 29 August.
Notices of intention to appoint administrators for Call Print Group, Call Print Services and Call Print UK were posted on 23 August, via London-based law firm Weightmans.

Call Print Express had sales of £880,599 in the year to 31 March 2017 and effectively broke even – turning around the prior year’s £74,685 loss to post a pre-tax profit of £1,244. The business had a net deficiency of assets of £373,667 at the balance sheet date and the accounts stated it was “reliant on the continued support of companies within the group”.

The Dubai-based company’s sales were made entirely in the United Arab Emirates. The business is subject to UAE company law, which is complex in the case of insolvencies.

Call Print Express is not included in the pre-pack sale of Callprint’s UK trade and assets to Hobs Group, and at the time of writing was not subject to an insolvency process.

Cheek told PrintWeek: “We have staff in Dubai working in that business. I’m working with the administrators and focusing on the staff. That’s all I’m focused on at this moment in time.”

He also said that he had been made redundant from his role at Callprint Group.

Separately, it has emerged that Cheek also has an involvement with Merseyside trade printer Wirral Continuous, which trades as WirralCo.

An all assets debenture charge registered against the company by Close Brothers Invoice Finance on 16 July was signed off on behalf of WirralCo by Steven Wayne Cheek.

Cheek is described as a director on the document, although he is not currently listed as a director of Wirral Continuous at Companies House.

Cheek declined to comment on his involvement with WirralCo. WirralCo managing director Dennis Graham had not responded to requests for comment at the time of writing.