GF Smith has bought the Naturalis brand and mill stock from KMPG, administrators of failed paper maker Tullis Russell.
Stock is being moved from Markinch in Fife to the GF Smith warehouse in Hull while trials are underway to continue production of the uncoated paper at another UK mill. “The stock will be in place by Thursday,” says GF Smith joint managing director John Haslam. “And we are on the second round of trials in making the paper which is going really well. We are print testing these.”
The mill, whose identity is being withheld at this stage, has secured supplies of the same maple pulp that Tullis Russell used, meaning its should be possible to make an identical paper. “We want to get the mix spot on. We are about 95% of the way there,” he adds.
GF Smith has been a distributor for Naturalis since 2005. “Naturalis is one of the best performing uncoated stocks available. It has been an exceptionally successful product for us for the last ten years and sales continue to grow.”
Now it will handle distribution to established export customers and to new markets. The paper ranges from 120-400gsm in three finishes and is suited to both litho and digital printing. It joins a stable of GF Smith owned brands that include its flagship Colorplan brand, produced by James Cropper in Cumbria.
GF Smith has acquired “considerable tonnage” of the paper from mill stocks which will maintain supply while production is restarted. Haslam continues: “We have been able to satisfy inquiries coming through about availability, though one or two customers were a little concerned. They have been doing the print tests and are reporting that the printability of the new sheets is better than before.
“The important thing is that we have control of the brand and we now want to push it forward, not just to customers in the UK but throughout the world.”
The company has been able to act rapidly because it remains independent and thus has a shorter decision chain. Meanwhile the administrators continue to market the remaining brands owned by Tullis Russell, so far without success.
Naturalis has been part of the GF Smith Collection of papers since 2005, supplied by Tullis Russell. Now it becomes one of the paper merchant’s own brands, produced to the same specification using the same mix of pulps as previously.
