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Nearly 30 Aberdeen and Peterhead jobs axed after Sign Plus goes bust

Sign Plus and its north-east subsidiaries suffered 'serious cash flow problems'.

Sign Plus and its north-east subsidiaries suffered 'serious cash flow problems'.

The collapse of award-winning Fife group Sign Plus has left 29 people out of work in Aberdeen and Peterhead.

A further 21 workers have lost their jobs at the company’s headquarters in Dalgety Bay.

Administrators at FRP Advisory said the group went under after “serious cash flow problems, stemming from rising operational costs”.

The businesses have ceased trading and the assets will be marketed for sale.

Sign Plus and its subsidiaries all part of Manchester-based PFI Group.

Sign Plus ran two subsidiaries in Aberdeen – signage-focused Loftus Signs and printing, signage and creative design business Jasmine.

These tw0 firms, both based on Quarry Rd, Aberdeen, employed 27 people in total in the Granite City. There were 18 at Loftus Signs, reputedly the largest signage company in the north of Scotland and nine at Jasmine.

An offshoot of Jasmine, under the name Scrogie, employed two people in Peterhnead.

Sign Plus in Dalgety Bay, Fife.
Sign Plus in Dalgety Bay, Fife. Image: Google Maps

Sign Plus and its subsidiaries were part of a larger company, Manchester-based PFI Group.

They provided design, manufacturing, installation and maintenance service for a range of industrial, commercial and public sector clients, including the Ministry of Defence.

Sign Plus, with multiple awards to its name, was founded in 1992.

Loftus Signs’s roots go back to 1951, with both business becoming part of PFI Group in 2017.

PFI Group rescued Jasmine out of administration in 2021, saving all 22 jobs.

Assets up for sale

Michelle Elliot and Anthony Collier, partners with FRP Advisory, have been appointed joint administrators of Sign Plus.

They are urgiing parties interested in acquiring the assets to contact the Glasgow office of FRP Advisory as soon as possible.

Two employees of Sign Plus have been retained to assist the joint administrators,  who have pledged to provide the redundant workers with “as much support as possible”.

This includes any claims to the Redundancy Payments Office and engaging with support agencies such as Pace.

Loftus Signs/Jasmine in Aberdeen.
Loftus Signs/Jasmine in Aberdeen. Image: Google Maps

Ms Elliot said: “Sign Plus and its specialist divisions, Lofthus Signs and Jasmine, are long-established and highly regarded end-to-end suppliers of commercial design, print, graphics and visual branding solutions.

“The business has been adversely affected by rising operational costs and unsustainable financial problems, with administration being the only option.”

One source told The Press and Journal workers had not been paid since September.

‘Collect your belonging’, workers told

Another said: “Staff were told they had changed banks and (pay) would be delayed.

“It didn’t happen and (workers) were all told to go home on Wednesday (last week).”

A day later the staff were told the company was in administration and they were to collect their personal belongings.

Sign Plus logo.
Sign Plus logo. Image: FRP Advisory

The same source, a former employee, added: “They hadn’t paid suppliers for months and were asking clients to pay deposits or half upfront to allow them to buy materials.”

“Lots  of clients” have been left with signage work uncompleted, the ex-worker said, adding: “Some of the staff  are in dire situations, not able to buy food or electricity.”

Another former employee said staff had been treated “absolutely abominably”.

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