Earlier this month, we reported that Ilford Imaging Switzerland had entered urgent talks
with its bank as the company admitted it could no longer honour all its
financial obligations.
Swiss courts granted Ilford Imaging Switzerland until mid-August to find ‘a short or medium-term investor to save the business’.
On 29 July, bosses informed the Swiss courts of its current financial position, as part of conditions set down by the judge.
The company says it is still waiting for a final decision on how to proceed and has not been declared bankrupt.
The company has tonight moved to deny a Swiss press report, published earlier today, which claims the firm’s plant in Fribourg has been shut down and 220 staff ‘laid off’.
The firm employs 230-240 people worldwide, mostly in Switzerland but six who are based in the UK.
A spokeswoman described the financial troubles as ‘heartbreaking’ for the company’s dedicated workers, many of whom have been with the firm for 15 or 16 years.
But she said the Fribourg factory remains open.
‘People are still coming to work every day. We are still shipping our product. We are still actively trying to get an investor.’
Amateur Photographer understands that Galerie paper sales have remained ‘pretty steady’, but that the company’s financial fortunes largely hinged on a deal with another firm which ‘fell through’ last month.
As yet there is no buyer.
The company has been approached by a number of interested parties – from both finance and industrial sectors – but potential investors have told bosses they need more time to make a decision.
The firm believes that ‘with the right partner’ it can realise its growth strategy.
• Ilford Imaging Switzerland GmbH, which makes ‘Galerie’ photo inkjet paper, is totally separate from Ilford Photo which is based in the UK and is unaffected. Ilford Photo is the trading name of Cheshire-based Harman Technology Ltd which makes traditional b&w photographic papers and film. Harman
Technology says it is in ‘excellent financial health’ and is not commercially connected to
Ilford Imaging Switzerland.