INDUSTRY / NEWS PrintMonthly printmonthly PrintMonthlyMagazine 10 email: news@printmonthly.co.uk January / February 2024 - Issue 346 Tumultuous year at PFI Group continues Filing of a Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators at Works Manchester (formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grafenia) has made the company the latest to be affected by the turmoil within the PFI Group (Rymack Sign Solutions). The sale of Works Manchester was announced on May 19th, 2022, and included assets of Grafenia Operations. However, on June 1st, 2023 Software Circle had not received the first installment from Rymack Sign Solutions which was due May 31st. Software Circle has now revealed that due to “reduced confidence of receiving payment of any deferred consideration from Rymack”, the £2.81m due has been reduced to £0.35m. With news of the intention to appoint administrators, Software Circle is now in the process of trying to recover these sums. With Nettl Systems a main customer of Works Manchester, a statement from Software Circle says: “The Nettl Systems management team have been making arrangements with alternative suppliers so that continuity of supply is in place for products available through the Nettl Systems platform to minimise any impact on the Nettl partner network.” Trouble within the PFI Group has been ongoing for months with a number of its subsidiaries being shuttered following an acquisition spree dating as far back as 2017. Issues at the Group began surfacing in May this year, as reported by Printweek, when PFI Group chief executive officer Darren McMurray came under fire for the dismissal of five former employees of PFI Group subsidiary Futurama. An unfair dismissal employee tribunal was heard at Leeds Employment Tribunal on October 10th, 2023 with the hearing finding no evidence of gross misconduct (the reason for dismissal cited by McMurray). PFI Group acquired Futurama back in 2020 however administrators were appointed from FRP Advisory on May 5th, 2023. Following this, Mardan Products ceased trading with FRP Advisory appointed on August 16th with around 12 employees reported to have been made redundant. More subsidiaries sadly followed suit with Sign Plus comprising sister companies Jasmine and Lofthus having entered administration. FRP Advisory was appointed on Friday, November 3rd and it is reported that 50 employees were made redundant. The future of Kelso-based Signmaster ED had been in question for months before it also entered administration with reports of staff not being paid and threats of eviction due to unpaid rent dating back to August 2023. Sadly, the issues weren’t resolved and FRP Advisory has now been appointed. A source at the company told Print Monthly that the administration came as a huge relief due to “the uncertainty around jobs and wages and the future of what was a very successful business”. The source has described the stress this has caused to employees, particularly in the run-up to Christmas, with staff, many of whom have families and young children, not having received wages for over four weeks and with no communication from PFI or Signmaster’s director Darren McMurray. The lack of management from the director has been described as “mentally painful” with staff describing feeling in limbo since former managing director, Stuart Horsburgh resigned earlier in 2023. In more positive news, Kesslers London and Proportion London successfully underwent a management buyout from PFI Group at the end of November. Kesslers London, which started trading in January 2021 and is built on the legacy of the Kesslers family brand, recently relocated its manufacturing site to the previous home of its Proportion London brand. Both Kesslers and Proportion now operate from East London, employing 95 staff over two locations offering unique retail displays and merchandising/visual media solutions. Daniel Astarita, managing director at Kesslers London, says: "We are thrilled to announce the acquisition of Kesslers London by our management team. This development represents a pivotal moment for us as we embark on a dynamic journey of growth and innovation.” At the time of writing, PFI Group has not responded to our request for comment. ▲Top: A string of PFI Group subsidiaries have entered administration as trouble within the Group continues ▲Above: Kelsobased Signmaster ED entered administration in November after months of uncertainty Works Manchester (formerly a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grafenia) has become the latest company to be hit by trouble at PFI Group with the filing of a Notice of Intention to Appoint Administrators
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjM0NDIxOA==