Sherborne printer Remous has made its second acquisition in as many months. Having bought Wells Printing from administration at the end of last year, the company has now purchased Wincanton Digital Print through a newly created vehicle Wincanton Creative Print, taking on 16 staff from the sheetfed and digital print business.
Wincanton had been rescued from administration in 2020, a victim of lockdown, but has suffered a down turn in sales while higher interest rates on debts added to the problems.
Remous intends to continue operations at the Wincanton plant. Remous managing director Alan Bunter says: “Wincanton Print has been a brand synonymous with print in the South West for over 40 years, but the landscape has changed since Covid and we are seeing consolidation throughout the industry.
“I am pleased we have been able to save the jobs of the skilled team and bring them into the Remous Group of companies, they have a great reputation in commercial and wide format print with quick turnaround times.
“This complements our other production facility in Sherborne, with the changes we are making we expect to see it flourish for years to come.”
Wincanton is equipped with a Speedmaster XL75 LE-UV, matching the UV equipped Komori Lithrone at the Remous factory. Begbies Traynor was appointed administrator of the business on 8 February with partners Julie Palmer and Andrew Hook taking charge. Hook says: “Although this business has encountered a series of financial challenges since the pandemic, it is clear that it has the ability to trade profitably with new backing.”
The same combination had handled the administration of Wells Printing which was sold to Wells Creative as a subsidiary of the Remous group. This saved the jobs of five staff, but not the full production facilities of the Bath business. Bunter has explained that the appeal has been a shared ethos as family owned businesses with a strong customer service ethic.
