Faced with rising energy and raw material costs, the group's UK operations Arjowiggins are under court administration since September 22. The two paper mills in the United Kingdom are affected by the receivership and the administrators in charge of the insolvency proceedings are now actively seeking new owners, whether paper manufacturers or not . 368 of the group's 463 British employees have just been made redundant. These two sites produce a wide range of papers commonly used in the graphic arts industry.
The receivers of Interpath Advisory confirm that "all new paper production has ceased". The activity of the British subsidiaries, carried out by the 95 remaining employees, is currently limited to paper already produced, which is transformed into finished products on large reels.
Moreover, contrary to rumors, the transfer of production to Arjowiggins' two other plants, located in China and Spain, is not currently envisaged, assures Interpath Advisory.
However, Arjowiggins is still in possession of a "important stock" of papers. "Customers should contact us if they want to know what brands of paper we have in stock and if they are available for purchase."
On the side of Antalis, which owns and distributes on an exclusive basis several of the brands produced by the British subsidiaries of Arjowiggins, including the famous ranges of creative papers Keaykolour, Curious or Rives, the French group tells us that solutions are being developed, including brand replacements. We will have to wait to know the details.
