Labels firm sold in pre-pack deal – 74 jobs saved

A Leicestershire-based label manufacturer has been bought in a pre-pack deal.

Hamilton Adhesive Labels, which posted a notice of intention to appoint administrators on August 22, called in Leonard Curtis to look after the day-to-day running of the on September 3.

Leonard Curtis sold Hamilton retail paper roll label firm Schades, which has its UK subsidiary in Ripley.

Jack Hugill, managing director of Schades UK business, told Print Week: “We’re on the acquisition trail for label companies throughout Europe. We have a label company in France, and [in the UK] a paper roll-to-roll converting company in Ripley, where we also produce a significant volume of labels.

“With Hamilton being just 35 minutes down the road, it was a good fit: both in respect to the quality of labels that Hamilton can produce, and in the fact that their customer base is similar to ours.”

Schades will now take on Hamilton’s 74-strong team.

Jun Park, Schades Group’s CEO, told Print Week: “We are very pleased because the group is implementing a long-term transformation strategy to drive sustainable growth and the acquisition of Hamilton Adhesive Labels is a strategic fit, delivering significant synergies with our existing UK operations and strengthening the group’s label business capabilities. We made this acquisition through an exceptionally quick process with our own resource and strengths.”

The group plans to invest significantly for growth in the label market, added Hugill: “There are a number of staff who have been at Hamilton for 20, 30 years – we don’t want to lose that talent. Our intention is to retain as much of that staff basis as physically possible,” he explained.

“We plan to give Hamilton Schades all the investment it needs in the near future to become a very profitable and viable business.”

Hamilton’s latest available accounts, made up to the end of October 2022, show that the firm made a profit of £334,727 on a turnover of almost £18m.