I received an email on 20 April from Print Group, that said

We’re writing to you from Print.Inc Group Limited.

As you may be aware, Print.Inc Group recently acquired the trade & assets of Awesome Merchandise Ltd.

Under a new board & leadership team, Print.Inc Group has been working hard to put print & pride back to customers, suppliers, and the wider community.

We’re happy to say that a 3-day rush & 5-day fast turnaround is now available on a wide range of products.

We’re working to continually improve our quality, customer service & experience.

With that in mind, Print.Inc Group Limited is committed to ensuring the security and protection of the personal information that we process. As part of this, if you would rather not receive this type of communication, please click here to unsubscribe or click here to adjust your preferences.

We would like to thank you for your support.

The Team at Print.Inc Group.

No, I Wasn’t Aware That Print Group Had Recently…. etc

I wasn’t aware that Print Group had acquired the trade and assets of Awesome Merch. So I googled it.

Where to start? Perhaps with the 28 reviews on the Indeed review platform from staff who have worked there and give it a very poor score, saying upper management pay themselves well, treat the workers badly, and don’t have a clue how to run a company. Then there are the over 1,000 crowdfunding backers who lost their investment after AM invested in an arm in the United States that folded and resulted AM having to fold, leading to its investors losing their money.

The crowdfunding was via CrowdCube, and there is a statement across the top of its page that states “Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you are unlikely to be protected if something goes wrong..”

The Yorkshire Post reported that in August 2022, after being placed into administration, AM was immediately sold to a newly established business called Print. Inc Group Ltd, whose only director is Luke Hodson – the man who founded Awesome Merchandise in 2009. It reported that according to the administrators (Interpath Advisory), unsecured creditors were collectively owed over £3m. Of that, more than 160 trade creditors made up of different companies and organisations were owed over £2.8m and that it was highly unlikely there would be a dividend to unsecured creditors.

The pre-pack administration means the company continues as another legal entity. Perhaps the trade creditors will get a deal and not lose money when the new business fulfils orders. Who knows?

Would I place an order with Awesome Merchandise? For a small order, yes. The pandemic sent a lot of businesses under, and the fact is that countless entrepreneurs wouldn’t have started businesses at all if they hadn’t had the ring fence of company limited liability. So really it comes down to the 28 employee reviews. Why were they so negative? Was the company so badly run?