Matt Smith and Neville Kahn of Deloitte, the business advisory firm, have been appointed Joint Administrators of a number of companies of PaperlinX UK. Deloitte have immediately shut 14 of 19 sites overnight, leading to up to 693 job losses.
PaperlinX UK, headquartered in Northampton, is a subsidiary of PaperlinX Limited, an Australian-listed, international merchant of paper, communication materials and diversified products and services.
The appointment specifically relates to PaperlinX UK’s paper and visual technology solutions businesses, comprising the following principal trading companies:
- Robert Horne Group Limited;
- Howard Smith Paper Group Limited;
- The Paper Company Limited; and
- PaperlinX Services (Europe) Ltd
In addition a number of non-trading holding and subsidiary companies have entered administration, as set out at the end of this announcement.
The UK packaging businesses (Parkside Packaging Ltd, 1st Class Packaging Ltd and Donington Packaging Supplies Ltd) of PaperlinX UK will remain outside of administration and continue to trade normally.
All other global operations of PaperlinX, including PaperlinX Ireland Ltd – which trades in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, and the businesses in mainland Europe, Asia and Australasia, are not impacted by the UK administrations and continue to trade normally.
The Joint Administrators have confirmed they will no longer be trading from 14 sites from 1 April 2015, with up to 693 redundancies. It will continue to trade from five sites.
Matt Smith, Joint Administrator, commented:
“The administration appointment specifically relates to Paperlinx UK’s paper and visual technology solutions businesses. The industry has faced an increasingly challenging environment due to falling demand as digital communications have increased. We are investigating how best to maximise value in the businesses for the benefit of its creditors.
“The Joint Administrators are seeking to continue to trade the businesses on a limited basis to secure the best value available from current stock holdings and other assets. Many of the sales office locations are being closed today. The businesses will continue to actively trade from five sites, including the Northampton head office, but on a more limited basis than previously. During this period we will also be attempting to find a purchaser for all or parts of the businesses.
“Employment specialists from the Joint Administrators team will be making sure affected employees are supported in making their claims to the Redundancy Payments Service for redundancy, pay in lieu of notice and any other appropriate claims. A dedicated email address and helpline for employees has also been established.”
