A BEER mat manufacturer with strong Huddersfield links has stressed that it’s business as usual – despite filing for protection from its creditors.
The Katz Group said the move applied to its German operations and not its international businesses, which include a 15-strong sales and design team based at Morley.
That business, Katz Quarmby, is the successor to beer mat maker Quarmby Promotions, which was founded in 1872 and based for 40 years at Milnsbridge.
Quarmby was taken over by Katz in 2001 and moved to Brighouse and Morley a year ago – before Katz closed the Brighouse manufacturing site last December and switched production to Germany.
At its peak, Quarmby employed more than 80 people in Huddersfield and produced millions of beer mats.
Despite being the market leader in Europe – with clients including Kronenbourg and Stella Artois, Katz said it had been hit by reduced orders in line with falling beer sales. Hundreds of pubs have closed in the past 12 months, hitting suppliers to the licensed trade such as Katz.
Filing for protection in the courts gives the group breathing space from its creditors to find additional funds.
But Katz chief financial officer Dr Simon Welte stressed: “Only three German business units have gone into protection and the UK business is not affected.”
Dr Welte said administrators had been appointed to seek new investors or extra funding from current shareholders.
Katz Group has operations in Germany, Belgium, the UK and sites at New York and Tennessee in the USA.
Quarmby Promotions was formed in 1872 as a packaging business and began making drip mats in 1931.
It has sold more than 9.5bn beer mats and is the world’s largest producer of drip mats, with operations in the UK, Germany and Belgium.
The company has customers in more than 50 countries, including ones in Europe, North and South America and south-east Asia.
Customers have included Bulmers, Tennents, Stella Artois, Thwaites and Mitchells and Butlers.
