Administrators move in at rigid plastics firm Jaycare

Jaycare was acquired in 2004 by Phoenix Equity Partners, before it was bought out in April 2006 in a £4m refinancing backed by Allied Irish Bank and HBOS.

The firm was established in the late 1950s by Johnsen and Jorgensen, and in 1964 launched the Jaycap tamper-evident plastic closure. It was bought by John Waddington in 1987 and relocated to Newcastle in 1990. Venture capital group 3i took over Jaycare in 2000.

Packaging Federation chief executive Dick Searle was chief executive of Jaycare from 1978 to 1984 before he became group managing director of Johnsen & Jorgensen. 

Jaycare reported an operating loss of £426,000 in the year to 1 April 2006, the last period for which accounts are available. Some £11.8m of its £17.8m turnover was generated in the UK with the balance from the rest of the world.

Joint administrator Mark Firmin said KPMG wanted to hear from companies interested in buying Jaycare as a going concern, saying it had a "loyal customer base and a skilled workforce".

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