RotaDyne UK in administration

Printing roller manufacturer RotaDyne UK has gone into administration.

Chris Farrington and Matt Cowlishaw of Deloitte were appointed as joint administrators of the Kettering company on 29 March.

The administrators are continuing to trade the 28-staff business and hope to find a buyer for it. The company manufactures a range of precision rollers for different industries, including press-ready rollers for Heidelberg, Komori, Mitsubishi and Manroland sheetfed presses.

It also offers a recovery and repair service for sheetfed and web offset presses.

The precise reason for the administration is not clear, although Farrington cited “very competitive market conditions”. Deloitte declined to comment on who had called in the administrators.

In a statement, Farrington said: “The feedback we have received so far from industry figures suggests that RotaDyne UK has highly admired products and people that we hope will make it an attractive target for buyers who can move quickly to seize the opportunity.

“It is therefore our intention to allow the business to continue trading in the short term so as to find a buyer as soon as possible. We have not announced any redundancies to date, as maintaining the highly skilled workforce and continuing to serve the company’s loyal customers is a priority.”

PrintWeek understands that around 60% of RotaDyne UK’s output was exported, and the firm sourced its specialist rubber compounds from its parent company.

RotaDyne UK’s immediate parent is the US-headquartered Rotation Dynamics Corporation, also known as RotaDyne. The administration only affects the UK business.

The US company did not respond to requests for comment.

RotaDyne UK files abbreviated accounts, so its profit and loss figures are not disclosed. It owed £6.15m to group undertakings according to its most recent filings, for the year to 31 December 2014.

“It’s very, very sad news,” said a source close to the company. “It’s a US-owned company and if the lifeline of inter-company conditions changes, then it makes it very difficult to continue.”