19 Oct. 2022: A complete shut down and asset sale now looks the most likely outcome for Arjowiggins’ historic UK paper mills.

Administrators from Interpath Advisory were appointed at ten Arjowiggins Group UK subsidiary businesses four weeks ago, including its Stoneywood paper mill near Aberdeen and the Chartham mill in Kent. 

The closing date for indicative offers in the sale of the businesses passed at the end of last week. 

A spokesperson for joint administrators Blair Nimmo and Alistair McAlinden told Printweek: “The initial sale of business deadline passed without identifying any immediately deliverable transactions to secure the sale of either UK mill as an operational facility.”

While the joint administrators will continue to look for buyers, “this will now be alongside the site wind-down strategy and the sale of assets on a piecemeal basis”.

The spokesperson added: “If any party has a genuine interest in acquiring both or either mill as an operational facility, then they should contact the joint administrators immediately.”

Unite Scotland regional industrial officer Shauna Wright said she was saddened at the situation. 

“It is very sad that we are losing staff who were previously retained and that they are now facing the daunting task of trying to secure employment at this stage of their working lives. Again no consultation was done with regards to the new round of redundancies.”

Wright said that Arjowiggins had previously told the union that the business had exhausted all avenues in terms of potential purchasers prior to going into administration.

“The news is not comforting for the mill staff or for the local community, but we never give up hope that a future for the mill can be secured. However as the days and weeks pass this is becoming more doubtful,” she added.

“We remain committed to supporting our members and assisting them with CVs and learning opportunities from Unite that will hopefully allow them to seek new employment.”

The joint administrators also said that they remained focused on supporting all impacted employees and thanked Unite, the UK and Scottish Government plus their support agencies, such as Partnership Action for Continuing Employment, for all their assistance.

The Stoneywood mill has been making paper since 1770 and specialises in fine papers, while Chartham has been in operation since 1738 and makes translucent papers. 

The Arjo businesses employed 463 people in the UK, and 368 were made redundant immediately at the time of the administration.

Arjowiggins had received £12m in funding via Scottish Enterprise including support for the 2019 MBO that rescued the business after the failure of its then-parent company Sequana.

In its first full year of trading, to 31 December 2020, AW Creative Paper Group filed sales of £99.9m and made a pre-tax profit of £92,840. It received £3.65m in government grant income during the period. 

The Arjowiggins mills in Spain and China are not part of the administration and continue to trade.

By Jo Francis, Wednesday, October 19, 2022 https://www.printweek.com/