Another sad milestone in Fife’s manufacturing history will be reached in the coming days when most of paper maker Tullis Russell’s assets will be sold to the highest bidder.
The Courier has learned that more than 561 items ranging from machine tools, woodworking machines and workshop equipment to lorries, tractors, trailers and even lightbulbs are to go up for auction on Tuesday, signalling the end of an era at the Markinch firm.
The company which was founded in 1809 went into administration in April this year and caused the immediate loss of 325 jobs, with a further 149 retained to complete existing orders.
As part of the administration process, most of the company’s assets are to be sold off in a bid to maximise the return for creditors including former employees who are thought to have been due a total of £18.4 million in redundancy pay and holiday entitlement.
Administrators KPMG will therefore launch an online auction at 10am on Tuesday, giving parties interested in the items listed on a 20-page catalogue until Thursday at 1pm to make an offer.
That should make some sort of dent into the estimated £50 million-plus debts owed by the company when it collapsed, although the last available update from administrators suggested there could still be an estimated shortfall of around £37.5 million even after money due to the firm by customers has been recovered and the land and equipment assets sold.
Administrators Blair Nimmo and Tony Friar, of KPMG, said in their latest update they anticipate that unsecured creditors will receive some payment for money owed. “However, the amount and timing of such a dividend is currently uncertain,” they stressed.
The firm ran into difficulty after seeing European exports suffer from the value of sterling in relation to the euro. It was also hit by rising raw material costs, weak global demand for printed materials and by a major customer becoming insolvent all factors that led to cumulative losses of £18.5 million over a five-year period.
It is understood there are more than 250 unsecured creditors of the firm owed cash, including six owed more than £1 million each, although at the time of administration the company was owed around £16.9 million by more than 300 individual customers. “We will continue to pursue all remaining debts, via the legal process if necessary, and whilst it remains cost-effective to do so,” said the administrators.