News
148 jobs on the line as Reed calls in administrators
Reed Print & Design has gone into administration with the potential loss of the company's 148 jobs.
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were appointed administrators of the Washington, Tyne and Wear-based printer this morning following a 90-day consultation with employees, which began in May.
Paul Reed, business development manager at Reed Print and Design, said: "It is a very, very sad day for the company."
He added: "Out primary concerns now are our employees, suppliers and customers. They are all that matter at present."
The company, which was established in 1968, moved into the newly built site in December 2005 following a fire at its former premises in Washington.
More to follow…
Reed Print and Design was established in 1968
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Comments
Simon Biltcliffe- Webmart - 26 August 2008
It goes without saying what an awful time it must be for the people up there- our thoughts are with you.Having been there myself I know it feels like the arse has fallen out of your world and enforced change such as this is very disorientating... but you will recover and often (deeply in hindsight I realise) it can be a change for the better.
We are looking to increase our coverage in the North East and to do that were looking at getting sales and customer service people to be based out of the region. Although I am on holiday, please do email your CV if you are interested in print management as one of the ways forward & good luck to each and every one of you.
Simon Biltcliffe
MD
WEBMART Ltd
simon.biltcliffe@webmartUK.com
Fraser Smith - 26 August 2008
I feel sorry that the industry has lost another company, especially with such a large impact on the local community.
Every cloud though, we are in need of Sales/Account Managers. If anyone is interested in staying within the industry in a rapidly expanding company then get in touch.
Send me an email and we'll go from there. Good luck.
fraser@redwoodprint.co.uk
David Brent - 26 August 2008
Simon Biltcliffe- Webmart & Fraser Smith = HELP! We are struggling ourselves, please please throw us any crumbs……
Julie Cook - 26 August 2008
I'm gutted for the staff at Reed.
Steve has a message for Ian at Reed, "There is a job for you here if you want it?, hope Jan is ok, I havn't been upto the Strath, for ages. So I'm sorry I havn't been in contact, hope Joyce is ok, and you still party on."
Get in contact via PW if you want the job or tel. 0191 4274665 All the best Steve
Julie Cook - 26 August 2008
F*** SB FS have some balls. If you want sales staff, I'm sure they will contact you, If you're worth contacting. Somehow I don't think you are. Thanks for the phone call from Ian albeit the wrong one, please pass on the the details I mentioned, again I'm so sorry as we all are, if any way we can help even via a bit part time work for the staff etc., we would do our best. Steve
david pain - 27 August 2008
With the prices being driven down by Print Management is this helping printers survive. I have priced webmart work in the past and it is impossible even at low margins.
Paul Baily - 27 August 2008
Having been through this experience myself recently I feel very sorry for the employees.I hope the Directors will do all they can to ensure people get as much of whats owed to them.
If we needed reminding the print industry is facing massive problems and its certainly contracting.
How many more printing companies are facing the threat of closure.
Personally I have found it virtually impossible to find any suitable opportunity since Capitals demise.
If anyone is seeking someone in Business Development I can be contacted on 07914 302079.
The Mighty wind - 27 August 2008
sad to hear the news and even sadder to see the vultures trying to pick over the carcass
rob valley - 27 August 2008
I'm sorry for the people at Reed, of course, but my dealings with them recently weren't good... they added about 20% to my final bill AFTER I'd received the goods and wanted to sue me for it..!
Nirav Morvan - 27 August 2008
Julie Cook, why oh why do you constantly use the forums of PrintWeek to express your disgust at PM companies, berate people like Mr Biltcliffe and pass your sorrow to people who have been made redundant?
Firstly PM is the future, it does add value and it has a place in a saturated industry. It provides an excellent solution to large multi-national corporations or company's with multiple sites that must streamline their purchasing.
Secondly Mr Biltcliffe seems to have built a very succesful business and brand, something which most in this sector have failed miserably at. Do I just sense jealousy here?
Thirdly, yes it is sad that company's do enter administration but what is wrong with SB or FS offering a lifeline to those that want to work?
I'll add a fourth point... who the hell are you and what on earth is your business to qualify you to make such boring self obsessed comments? You ARE the new Colin only (and rather sadly) less well-informed. A quick Google search on your number gives me a holding site for D&F Digital, you don't even have a website!!!
Alexander Martin - 27 August 2008
Mr Robert Troughton, go boil your head, you ordered goods, you received goods, you refused to pay for goods, the company was then forced into action. And no, I am not an ex employee of Reed Print and Design I am a supplier who is going to be serverly out of pocket through their sad and unfortunate demise but I can not and will not sit back and read pathetic bile from individuals in regards to a once proud and successful local company and their fabulous and committed workforce.
alan hudson - 27 August 2008
hi there i use to work at reed print and looking for work thanks alan
alan hudson - 27 August 2008
forget my number is 07939308254
rob valley - 28 August 2008
Alexander, I won't be drawn into the specifics of the case but, basically, I was quoted 700 pounds for a job. The job was done and I reported a fault - which would cost me 200 pounds due to an advertiser not paying. I offered to pay them 500 and was told that they'd get back to me. Instead, I don't hear from them for 2 months, despite repeated attempts to contact them, after which I get an email suggesting that I pay nearly 900 pounds! More than the original quote! Several arguments later they reduce it to the original quote of 700 pounds.
I'm really sorry for all the staff at Reed, this is a terrible thing that has happened - but trying to bully genuine, reliable customers into paying more still isn't right.
Julian Marsh - 28 August 2008
Robert, I work for a trade only printing & finishing company and we regularly hear the same story.
We produce work for several big print management companies as well as for a large number of small print brokers and having geared our business to support and work with this type of customer have formed synergetic relationships that work for the customer and more importantly are profitable and sustainable for us.
We don't employ any sales staff saving a large overhead as this element of the end users service is provided by our customer. I can understand why commercial printers with an existing sales overhead would struggle to match prices offered by trade manufacturers such as Prometheus but they take the work on as they, like a lot of printers at the moment, have capacity which they need to fill just to stand still.
Alexander Martin - 28 August 2008
Now, is it Robert Troughton or Rob Valley today?! Why does it not surprise me that as well as your story you can't even get your own name right?! Mind I had to smile with your "despite repeated attempts to contact them" line: Reed employed 12 client service staff that I knew of and a multitude of accounts and finance assistants! Do you really want us to believe that despite your valiant efforts no-body at the company wanted to take your money off you??! Why on earth did you post on here in the first place? What did you hope to achieve with your drivel and bile may I ask? You should be thoroughly ashamed of yourself, making unfounded accusations against a company and individuals who have other issues and worries to concern themselves with. I for one will endeavour to discover who your company is and ensure that I have no dealings with you, I would also recommend that any printers and suppliers who have read Mr Troughton/Valley unfounded accusations (lies) on here either 1. make him/them pay up front or 2. add at least 50% onto the job as you know he's going to fabricate reasons as why he shouldn't have to pay at a later date 3. Refuse to do any business with him/them at all. By posting in the 1st place you have exposed yourself as being a thoroughly undecent person without integrity.
Steve Hoseason - 29 August 2008
Rob, i worked for Reeds and the person you dealt with left and forgot to pass the info over, also may i add you couldn't get an account as you have a poor credit rating.
Oh and you've recently changed your company name and at first denied you owed any money and had nothing to do with that previous company.
All in all i think you should shut your mouth!
rob valley - 01 September 2008
Alexander - as you'll see from Steve's answer, I WAS a genuine customer of Reed's.
Steve - my previous print company had no problems with me, they ran 7 jobs for me and I always paid on time. My problem with Reed was that they added on an additional £200 to my invoice without even talking to me when, in fact, they were supposed to be SUBTRACTING £200. Even after I pointed the facts out they refused to correct it.
As I say, I'm really sorry for all the staff at Reed - the ones that i knew there all seemed to be decent people. Unfortunately, I suspect that they were also some of the first to go - hence why problems arose with Reed. The people that I later had dealings with didn't seem to have any kind of decency with regards to client management.
My changing of my business name has nothing to do with anything, by the way - I had a "localised" business name initially which I swapped for a more general name after just over a year in business. This was recommended to my by Business Link and others. As for my credit rating - you can thank my bank for that after they messed up swapping my account from Halifax to themselves. I previously had a 100% clean record.
Alexander Martin - 01 September 2008
Rob Valley/RobTroughton: yawn, 'nuff said you disgust me, now shoo, away with you.
rob valley - 01 September 2008
Alex: what?!? If you got a bill through the door asking you for an extra £200 for something which the deal has already been done on, wouldn't you also complain to the supplier?
That's all that I did. I've not shied away from paying the bill - i'm still fully prepared to do that. However, it's with the small claims court to decide exactly how much I should pay, given the evidence from both parties.
Yawn as much as you like - I'm simply defending myself from your criticism. This isn't a war of clients against printers, far from it. A reduced number of viable print suppliers is bad for everybody as it'll undoubtedly lead to higher prices.
Maybe if you respond again you'd like to raise your bar a bit higher and aim for using some *'ed expletives in your intelligent answer?
Julie Cook - 01 September 2008
Nirav Morvan
I do not think it's correct off a company to promote services on a forum on printweek. So who am I? A simple search on the telephone number alone would provide you with one of my customers and my company details. LOOK!!!! at the publisher, check out the page rankings, goto waterstones, borders and the many independant book stores, our books are on the shelves, and that is only one customer. I'm not going to point you to our other customers ableit only two others.
If you wish me to provide full company details, services etc., I would be more than happy to provide, but I do not wish to compete nor gain customers in a market that I longer trust in the way of PM firms.
I can provide 500 full colour business cards laminated both sides for £3.20, 1,000 A5 full colour leaflets for £12. If Nirav Morvan would like me to continue to provide such information on this website please let me know.
Who are you Nirav Morvan?
Steve Smith aka Razz my employee/production manager was looking for Ian Donkin/aka Donks a former employee at Reed.
Many Thanks
Julie
Alexander Martin - 01 September 2008
Rob Valley/RobTroughton: my point was that you are a disgusting individual to of posted your bile on here in the first place, an ex-employee of Reed has clearly stated that you weren't credit worthy in the first place AND you, as you have on this forum, changed names your story and then denied any knowledge of your previous company and debt to Reed Print and Design until you were caught out, which again has happened on here. Now let me repeat again for you: you disgust me, now shoo, away with you.
Si - 03 September 2008
I used to work for Reeds and still know people there, very sad day for them
Si - 03 September 2008
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Si - 03 September 2008
The way I hear it is that alledgedly reed have been selling off machinery for a while now, not sure if it was to raise funds to try and save the plant or to fund someones villa
August 26 - 03 September 2008
Normal
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false
false
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MicrosoftInternetExplorer4
Was it just me? or did anyone else witness something
fundamentally morally wrong happen on Friday 22nd August?
Why has there been no mention of it in this forum?
Did anyone else see the machinery @ Reed Print get ripped
out and virtually thrown onto wagons and taken god knows where?
Did anyone else see the man who marched in before any
Directors were on site and start dismantling machinery in front of bemused
staff who at this point had not been informed of any administrator being
appointed?
Did anyone else see the name of the Company written on
sheets of paper and attached to the machines stating it was their property “do
not touch”?
Did anyone else come in to the meeting after the
administrator was appointed on Tuesday 26th August to find no trace
of any machines and no chance of finishing off even work in progress?
Has anyone else wondered why none of this has been reported
in any press article including Print Week?
Or is it just me?
Si - 03 September 2008
Is the rumour that they are going to resurface as Reed Digital true? This might explain where some of the machines have alledgedly gone.
August 26 - 03 September 2008
You tell me Si, you seem to be the one with all the info.
The digital colour printer was about the only thing left by that guy on Friday 22nd, presumably because it was not paid for.
derek heron - 19 November 2008
i drove past the clean pack site in longbenton today fair bit of activity,
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