Below is a copy of the article in Printweek in the UK describing...

Below is a copy of the article in Printweek in the UK describing the departure of Phil Carr as UK MD.

In case anybody missed it, on 22 June I posted some analysis of the UK numbers over the past couple of years, based on filed accounts which were posted on the PIGS or Sux website. This analysis showed that the UK declined precipitously over the period 2011 to 2012. It seems not improbable that 2013 will continue that trend - this is just a guess, I don't have any data. Here is an extract from my previous post:

<<<< From 2011 to 2013:

- Total Revenue fell from GBP 776m to 713m, a decline of 8.2%.

- Total Profit before tax fell from a profit of GBP 960k to a loss of 8.952 MILLION, a decline of almost ONE THOUSAND PERCENT. >>>>

For a number of years until December 2012, Phil Carr was not in charge of this decline, somebody else was. Phil was in the job for 6 months, but now appears to be carrying the can. Obviously a Teflon coating might have helped.

It is also worth pointing out that he was quoted in the press as saying that the UK as a whole would return to profit in the second half of FY 2013 - can we assume this has now gone as well?

In relation to the article below, it is worth highlighting the inherent contradictions between the various statements:

- He left "at the request of the Board" / "it was a change the Board wanted" / "Phil was not made redundant" (not nice things to say to the press, and carry negative messages)

compared to

- "Phil had done lots of good work" / "He was a finance specialist" (damning with faint praise - so why did you promote him to MD then?)

The least they could have done would have been to say nice things about him, after 10 years of service. But they couldn't even get that right.


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Paperlinx UK managing director exits business

By Darryl Danielli Tuesday, 23 July 2013

Paperlinx UK managing director Phil Carr has left the business "at the request of the board" just eight months after taking on the role.

Paperlinx chief executive David Allen will take on Carr’s role in the interim, with Carr’s direct reports – commercial print managing director Andy Buxton, packaging managing director Marc Jacobs and VTS managing director Frank Moran – now reporting to him.

"We made the change at the request of the board. It was part of the ongoing management change of the business worldwide, where we are constantly looking at our structure and costs and how we can move the business forward," said Allen.

Prior to being promoted to UK managing director in December last year, after Allen’s interim appointment as chief executive was made permanent, Carr had held a number of senior finance positions across Paperlinx’s operating businesses and is understood to have joined the company more than 10 years ago.

Carr resigned as a director of Paperlinx at Companies House on 5 July.

"Phil had done lots of good work on the restructuring and refinancing of the business, all of our cost reductions ran to plan [for example]," said Allen.

"But at the end of the day we need to constantly review people’s roles and the costs of the organisation and it was a change the board wanted, and I was willing to take on that additional role temporarily. The board asked me to take on the UK business and as a consequence Phil has left his position."

Allen stressed that Carr had not been made redundant and while the company’s restructure was an ongoing process, there are no other planned management changes at this time.

Carr is now understood to be on a period of ‘gardening leave’ and was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.

Allen said that Paperlinx would be looking to appoint a new UK managing director in the long term, although he said recruitment would not begin until the autumn at the earliest.

He added that there wasn’t "one single factor" behind Carr’s departure.

"It’s about having the right management at the right time; there is no criticism of Phil at all. He was a finance specialist and handled the restructuring and refinancing and did that very well. It’s now time to look at what sort of management we need next."