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Historic Sheffield firm forced to pack up after 185 years
IT WAS founded before the Industrial Revolution changed the face of British manufacturing forever, and has been witness to the reigns of eight monarchs.
It has survived two World Wars, the Wall Street Crash, the three-day week of 1974, and the dark days of the recessions of 1980 and 1992.
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But now, after 185 years trading, Joseph Pickering and Sons packaging company in Little London Road, Sheffield, has gone bust - another victim of the credit crunch sweeping Britain.
The business was founded in 1824, originally as a polishing firm set up by Joseph Pickering.
Over the years the company diversified into packaging, ending its life as manufacturer of items such as cases, cartons, flatpacks and corrugated boxes.
The news has spelt the end of the road for the company's 42 employees - the cause of enormous frustration for managing director Robin Batchelor.
He said the firm was still viable and should have been able to survive the current climate, with a busy order book right up until its last week of trading.
But he said the actions of its invoice discounting service GE Capital Finance - the company which loaned Pickerings 90 per cent of the value of its invoices while they were being turned around by the buyer - had led to it being unable to pay off its creditors.
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Mr Batchelor said: "Basically since November the company has been strangling us of cash. The decision has been forced upon us by our funders.
"I feel very angry and frustrated - the company is a profitable one and even in today's climate it should have continued. If they had supported us instead of going against us we would have got through."
He said the struggle to pay off GE Capital's loans, plus two considerable 'bad debts' from firms who had not paid for their products, meant the only option left with was to wind up the company to pay off its creditors.
Mr Batchelor added: "We have lost financial control of the business. I feel very embittered about it - I think it's scandalous."
One woman, whose 21-year-old son had been employed on the factory production line since leaving school, backed up Mr Batchelor's assertions that the firm was still doing well.
She said: "What my son can't understand is they're really busy - the overtime has dried up recently but there's still plenty of work."
But a spokesman for GE Capital Finance disputed the allegations - saying it had worked with Pickerings to try to resolve the situation over a number of months.
In a statement he said: "A business failing is always regrettable and never the desired outcome for a lender.
"We supported the management team at Joseph Pickering for a number of months whilst they explored alternative business strategies.
"Unfortunately, the management ultimately decided this was their only option in the face of a worsening trading environment. Despite the current climate, GE remains committed to supporting our clients and to extending new facilities."
The mum of the former Pickerings employee said she was now very worried about her son's situation.
"It's really sad because Pickerings has been there years and my son has worked there since leaving school," she said. "Last year he was doing so well - he was doing 12-hour days, six days a week.
"He decided to buy a house because that's what everyone says - get your foot on the property ladder. But now he doesn't know how he's going to pay the mortgage, and we're scared he's going to end up with the house taken off him."
The woman added that although her son was now looking for a new job and "would take anything", she was worried about the lack of available work in the current climate.
"That work is all he's ever known," she added.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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