With its closure and the loss of 250 jobs just two weeks away the huge Prinovis printing plant in south Liverpool is put up for sale. Tony McDonough reports
A huge Liverpool printing site that is due to close by the end of June with the loss of 250 jobs has been put up for sale.
In November last year Prinovis UK announced that its 627,217 sq ft premises at Speke in South Liverpool would close on June 30, 2023. It blamed a decline in the publication printing market since 2019 and the rising cost of paper.
In its most recent published accounts for the year to December 31, 2021, Prinovis UK, part of the German Bertelsmann group, reported sales of £46m. This was down from £53m a year earlier. Pre-tax losses were £7m, widening from £6.5m the previous year.
Speaking in November, managing director Richard Gray said: “Despite some successes winning new customers in recent months Prinovis UK has continued to see revenues and volume decline.
“Over the past two years Prinovis UK has implemented restructuring changes and initiated cost savings in an attempt to make the business viable.
“However, the continued market decline and the huge increases in raw material costs, particularly energy, have proven that the previous changes have been insufficient to avoid Prinovis UK operating at financial loss in 2022.
“Unfortunately, macro-economic events have continued to increase pressure and there continues to be insufficient volume to enable the business to realistically return to profitability.”
Now Prinovis has instructed CBRE’s industrial and logistics and office agency teams to seek a buyer for the freehold interest of the site. It is located on Dakota Drive within Estuary Business Park.
This 50-acre site has its own combined heat and power facility, plus 5,000 roof mounted solar panels producing 1.3 megawatts of electricity. The site offers almost 27 acres for further expansion which could deliver more than 350,000 sq ft of industrial space.
READ MORE: 45,000 sq ft of business space completed close to Mersey
READ MORE: £11m injection kick starts 210,000 sq ft business park
Demand for industrial and logistics space in the North West is currently very strong and is expected to become more so following the launch of the LCR Freeport earlier this year.
Neil Kirkham, senior director at CBRE in Liverpool, said: “Due to the site’s strategic location and exceptional attributes in utilities… we have already seen a lot of interest, from both manufacturing owner occupiers, developers and investors.”
Another CBRE director, Darren Hill, added: “This represents a unique opportunity to acquire the freehold interest in a market where supply of industrial and logistics space as well as development sites is at an all time low and demand at an all-time high.”