Sad news. The British printing works William Clowes, founded in 1803, is to cease trading. Its parent company, the English branch of the CPI Group, plans to close the Beccles-based site by March 31, 2026. Around fifty jobs will be affected.
CPI UK, refers to a persistently deteriorated financial situation. "We have explored various strategies to ensure the company's long-term viability. However, we have been loss-making for several years and, unfortunately, the loss of a major contract last December makes the situation untenable." explains Tanya Dunbar, Managing Director of CPI UK, in a press release.
Historically positioned on professional publications for British and international publishers âeuros manuals, legal works, directories, high-pagination titles such as âeuros bibles, the two-century-old printing house is undergoing the massive migration of its titles to digital media, laments the manager.
Marketing efforts were undertaken to compensate for these volume losses. To no avail. "We've put considerable effort into finding suitable new business opportunities to compensate for those going digital, but, unfortunately, we can't find suitable work at a profitable price level."
Created in the early 19th century by William Clowes in London , l his is one of the oldest printing plants in the French CPI group, which specializes in books and has 16 sites in five countries (France, UK, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic).
No information has been given at this stage on how the closure will be implemented. CPI UK indicates that it will communicate further details at a later date to all parties concerned.
