Business forms specialist Easyforms has acquired the assets and sales book of KP Paper Convertors (KPPC), one of the few remaining manufacturers of computer listing paper in the world.

Easyforms continues to serve KPPC’s UK and international customers, having transferred the machinery and stock to its site in Midsomer Norton on 22 March.

Ken May, the previous owner of KPPC, decided to sell the business after the death of his brother Robert, who had latterly been running the firm. 

Forced to come out of semi-retirement, May resolved to sell to Easyforms. 

May said: “Since the passing of my brother Robert, my wife and our very loyal staff have been running the business. 

“Our family circumstances have given us a different outlook on life, and it isn’t the same here without him. Working with Easyforms ensures his legacy continues while our customers keep receiving high-quality products.”

The deal was completed for an undisclosed sum, to be paid over two years. May will keep on the KPPC brand during that period, before officially closing the old company. The firm had no staff at the time of sale, as they had been relatives of May's, coming in to assist the business at busier periods.

KPPC had supplied the company for over three decades, and May had previously had conversations with Easyforms’ managing director Matthew Cook about handing over the reins.

Cook told Printweek that the listing paper had slotted neatly into Easyforms’ offering of business forms, pads, labels and thermal rolls, with more than 10 orders coming in already from customers of both companies.

“It fit quite well because we were one of the largest users of carbonless paper in the UK anyway. And all of Ken’s stuff is plain carbonless – pretty much the exact same stuff as we do here, except we sell printed stock,” Cook said.

KPPC’s machines, two old Hamilton Mustang converters, produce three packs of 279x241mm listing paper – also known as computer paper – simultaneously.

Cook said: “They have to be 50 years old, but they are absolutely immaculate. Ken kept them so well that it is like they have just come into the showroom.”

He added that he believed the two machines to be the last two machines of their kind in the UK, and his old competitor Integrity Print stopped producing both listing paper and business forms several years ago.

The rarity of listing paper manufacturers will prove beneficial to Easyforms: planning to take on just four staff to service the added business, Cook anticipates a growth in turnover of nearly £1m.

Customers for the listing paper, which is usually run through dot-matrix printers, include the NHS, stationers, and airports. Each airport in Sri Lanka, Cook said, run 30-40 dot-matrix printers all day long.

"It's quite surprising how many people actually use listing paper, considering that it has been around for 50 or 60 years now," he added.

Easyforms runs a number of Morgan 904 and 905 litho preses, and a Rotatek RK 250 Plus UV label press.