Dundee workers made redundant with the collapse of Tayprint have been offered jobs by a rival city printing firm.
The firm was placed into administration on August 26, with a decline in the sector and the pandemic listed as reasons. 21 staff were made redundant.
Based at West Gourdie Industrial Estate, Tayprint had operated in Dundee for 45 years.
However, most of the workers have been quick to return to employment.
‘Tayprint employees will help us’
Tradeprint held an open day last week and has made job offers to almost all of the Tayprint workers.
Tradeprint managing director Charlene Joss said: “At the open day we told the Tayprint employees about our values and vision for growth so they could have a sense of the type of business we are.
“We wanted it to be as informal and relaxed as possible. The staff had already been through enough stress without having to worry about preparing a CV and going through formal interview questions.
“Swiftly afterwards we made offers of employment to almost all of the staff at Tayprint.
“The 17 positions are in manufacturing, sales, project management, marketing, administration and pre-press.
“We have some ambitious plans for growth and I have no doubt these employees will help us.
“These are highly skilled, experienced operators who have blown us away with their positive attitudes.
“We are absolutely delighted to have been able to support them with continuous employment.”
Investment for growth
Ms Joss said the new employees will take her company’s workforce to 141.
The business has made close to £3.5 million in machinery investments this year.
It is also assisting the Tayprint administrator in completing some of its outstanding work.
Ms Joss adds: “The response from the customers has been incredibly positive and we hope we can continue to support them in the future.
“Tayprint had a strong presence in the local area through their sales team.
“By hiring these employees we hope we can maintain those relationships and open up a wider catalogue of paper products for that base also.”
Tradeprint optimism despite challenges
Tradeprint has a positive outlook as it approaches its peak season in the run up to Christmas.
Volumes of work – which slumped to as little as 10% of normal levels at the worst of the pandemic – have almost returned to 2019 levels.
However, it has also been impacted by economic challenges facing every business at the moment.
“There are lots of pressures in the marketplace,” Ms Joss said.
“There are material cost increases as much as 100% in some cases, electricity costs have doubled and raw material shortages.
“However we have done a brilliant job at managing those to the best of our ability.
“As the only UK manufacturer that’s part of the wider Cimpress Group there is huge potential to produce more of the group’s volumes in the UK to save costs overall.”
Tradeprint marked its 25th anniversary in Dundee earlier this year.
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