Printer re-enters administration weeks after £65m deal to save it

JUST four weeks after being sold in a pre-pack deal, a major printing company has re-entered administration.

Printing firm Polestar UK Print Ltd, which was set up with the backing of Proventus Capital Partners, acquired the business on in March in a £65m deal safeguarding nearly 2,000 jobs.

Now, the new company has filed for administration again after its biggest customer DMG Media, which publishes the Daily Mail, gave it 90 days’ notice.

The business, which has sites in Sheffield, as well as Nottingham, Chantry, Bicester, Exeter and Banbury, called in PwC for the administrations.

The Polestar Group was established in 1998 and produces more than 50m products a week for newspaper supplements, magazines, retail and journals and reference publications.

Employing a direct workforce of more than 1,500, as well as 150 outsourced staff and 350 agency contractors, the group had a turnover of approximately £200m.

Unite national officer Ian Tonks said: “This is bitter news for our members. Over the coming days Unite will be doing everything in its power to support them and preserve their jobs.

“We firmly believe that Polestar has a future and can be successful. Its workforce is second to none and produces some of the best quality print in the UK.

“We have been in contact with the administrator PricewaterhouseCoopers and will be working closely with them throughout the process to ensure that the business is sold to a viable buyer.”