Today it has been announced that the two remaining UK paper mills of the ArjoWiggins group have been bought in a buyout by the management of the failed mills. This is excellent news for the UK paper industry, saving over 500 jobs.
You can read more here on the Printweek site:
I have previously written about ArjoWiggins when they went into administration here and when their mill in France closed here, taking with them products that many were familiar with including Cyclus, Cocoon, Chromomatt, Satimatt etc...
This buyout involves two UK paper mills, Stoneywood, based in Scotland and Chartham, based in Kent. This is very positive news for the UK and it is great that the management finally managed to convince the banks that it was a risk worth taking. Apparently significant financial backing has also been received from the economic development agency Scottish Enterprise. In these strange political times, it will be interesting to see how the Scottish parliament will view the Scottish development agency propping up a paper mill based in Kent!
Recent history demonstrates that many paper mills that come out of administration often don't make it and go bust again, Let's hope that is not the case for these mills and they can make a positive contribution to the UK economy.
Posted by Justin Hobson 25.09.2019
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