News
Former staff lead bid for B&T
An audacious bid for book printer Butler and Tanner may be on the verge of being launched by a management team comprised, in part, of former employees.
The team looking to acquire the company is led by Kevin Sarney, who has been with the Butler and Tanner Group for 12 years.
He is supported by fellow directors, Dave Mills and Jeremy Snell, and also former managing director Peter Maunder.
Sarney said: "Our confidence in the potential of Butler and Tanner grows by the day. The company made good profits for the 15 years to 2003.
"Then, like so many other UK printers, the business suffered a dramatic downturn due to a high cost base, a pension deficit and not least, overseas competition."
He added that the decline of sterling, combined with rapidly rising prices in Europe, meant the UK market had become more competitive.
Sarney added: "We are working behind the scenes to get things together. We believe there is a need for a quality colour book printer in the UK."
Mike Dolan, chief executive of Butler and Tanner, had dismissed an earlier bid in the run-up to the closure of the company last month, believing that it had "not demonstrated an intention or ability to cover the unsecured creditors or to fund an ongoing operation".
Sarney declined to comment on whether he was behind this bid but said the team was currently seeking investors to support the move.
Target Corporate Finance has been recruited to advise the team on a deal, and Matt Eves, who is heading up the Target team, is confident that an attractive proposal can be reached.
"All members of the team have extensive experience in the sector and between them have significant knowledge of the company and the industry as a whole. Their plan represents a great opportunity to save the business," he said.
"We are currently in discussions with potential funders and are looking to put together a rescue package. We are in contact with the administrators and will be meeting with unions and representatives of the workforce later this week to discuss the team's plans."
The management team is headed up by Kevin Sarney
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Comments
Mark Hutton - 12 May 2008
I think that the whole publishing industry should get behind this bid. There is no doubt that the U.K. book trade needs a supplier of high quality, large format, colour printing on it's doorstep.
Increasing fuel costs and green issues will focus business thinking towards local solutions of supply in the future.
Allied to that the Butler & Tanner name was always a byword for state of the art quality printing and, obviously, the skills base has not yet dissipated.
Lets hope that this company rises again from the ashes of Mr Dolan's neglect.
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Clive Keeble - 12 May 2008
This important news story is also being covered by The Bookseller
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/58304-bt-management-looks-to-buy-out-.html
kba topdog kba topdog - 12 May 2008
and it what time scale will all this transpire???
reggie reynolds - 12 May 2008
wherwe and what time is this meeting taking place
Kevin Bain - 12 May 2008
Let's not forget that B&T undercut other UK printers by a fair margin for a long time. What has happened in the last 6 months is a disgrace but let's not forget that to survive B&T need to charge the going rate for the job. The workforce at B&T haven't just been let down by Dolan. The previous management have to take their share of the blame for the situation that allowed Dolan in the door.
John Newton - 12 May 2008
The thing B&T had was a very high skill base throughout, just talk to our ex-customers. With a bit of money invested the company could be the bigest book printers in Europe again, we havent lost any capacity in fact we have more! It would be a great shame to the History Of Book Printing in England if within a years time we drive past the site full of houses like everywhere else. Good Luck to Kevin and everyone else involved, Britain Needs You!
john peel - 13 May 2008
Very well said Kevin, especially the sentence, " The previous management have to take their share of the blame for the situation that allowed Dolan in the door",is exactly right.
John Newton, you too post a lot of sense, B and T `s had a terrific work force, a very skilful work force, they are chomping at the bit to prove to any future investor that given the chance B and T`s can return to their iconic status that hey once had. Just hope that it is not all too late.
alex Horne - 13 May 2008
Good luck to everyone involved in trying to rescue B&T from the ridiculous place it has been put in !!!!Lets all hope they can pull it off with know interferance from people who couldnt give a damn whether it survived or not.(oh, and never did) We all know what B&T was,and we all know what it can be, and so does all the customers who have worked with us.Surely it will benefit everyone within the industry to save the last big book colour printers in britain, and restore it to its rightful place as one of oldest and most successful printing companies in europe. Lets not waste this last chance !!
Darren Haine - 13 May 2008
I do actually believe the individuals involved in this new and "audacious" bid to resurrect B&T's have a passion for print, it's people and Frome, not just how far you can squeeze it for a quick profit or resort to company euthanasia then asset stripping (in my opinion) if you can't impose draconian rule to acheive this. They do have experience and insight in the print trade seemingly lacking by our most recent owners.
I would agree that it was a combination of factors that caused the unfortunate downfall of B&T in 2007, good intentions but retrospectively some questionable strategies also.
It would be a great pity that as the pendulum seems to be swinging in the favour of a company like B&T's, and after all the recent troubles, it missed any opportunity to survive and flourish again. The workforce is highly skilled and second to none proven by the award winning products that continuously left it's premises. If this bid gets of the ground i for one would welcome it and wish them every success.
john peel - 13 May 2008
Butler and Tanner was a great place to work and I have many, many happy memories stretching back 40 plus years. Yes, we have all moaned and groaned about various issues over the past years but I wouldn`t have swopped my time there for any other employment. It used to be said that a job at Butler and Tanner was a job for life and so but for the intervention of that p...k Dolan it would probabaly still be true today. I hope to God that this famous company can rise like the Phoenix from the ashes and enable us to be proud of the fact that we can again say "I work for Butler and Tanner of Frome"
Clive Keeble - 13 May 2008
Updated coverage on The Bookseller
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/58407-dolan-weve-heard-nothing-about-bt-bid.html
To the ex-B&T staff I would point out that it is not unusual for there to be delays in formatting a deal, ready to get it acceptable to the administrators when the new team will require a period of "due diligence" checking the current B&T accounts.
I'm an opinionated outsider, whose only interest in this matter is as a member of the independent booktrade - a trade purchaser and stockist of hopefully many more B&T printed titles : please be patient for there are seldom speedy resolutions to any administration.
Good fortune to Kevin Sarney
franklin russell - 13 May 2008
I wish the group all success in their bid as Frome cannot afford to lose any more industries.The management team must be firm and fair and I am sure they will secure the support of the workers and customers alike.
Daren Booth - 15 May 2008
Reviving B&T at Frome is obviously welcome news to all concerned - assuming that it can be done!
I strongly believe there is a role for a British Book Printer, however we would need to learn from the mistakes of recent years. B&T would need a drastic rethink of production methods, equipment, scale of production and refining what business is targeted.
The backbone of the company has always been the skill and dedication of its workforce, however anyone taking on B&T now would need to ensure that it is put to its best uses.
kba topdog kba topdog - 15 May 2008
good shout daren...its a pity the mpi dictatorship didnt take on ur views....the skill and dedication of the workforce is paramount if any revival is to be successful.
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