Auteur: Marc Nocart
Date: 26-01-2007 13:25
Voici ce qu'on pouvait trouver hier sur le British Journal of Photography
Donc tout va être rasé pour construire du "logement". Apparemment ils ne sont même pas vendeurs du tunnel d'enduction ni même de certaines formules qui intéressaient Kentmere. Là, c'est vraiment la honte..
Title: Makers of Forte go under
Feature: news
Date: 24 January 2007
Just one week after we reported on the recovering market for traditional black-and-white photographic materials, BJP has learnt that one of Europe's leading manufacturers has gone bust.
According to reports, veteran producer Forte has shut its Hungarian-based factory - a move that has bee confirmed by its UK distributor, Silverprint - although the manufacturer itself did not respond to BJP's enquiries directly.
Silverprint's owner Martin Reed told BJP: 'I can confirm that the Forte Photochemical factory has closed, and from what I have heard there is no prospect of it restarting'. Silverprint, he added, has about two months of Forte stock remaining, but he warned that gaps could appear when news gets out and people start bulk buying. Details of its stock is available online at www.silverprint.co.uk.
The only hope for the brand, which launched in 1922 as a subsidiary for the then London-based Kodak company, is that another paper manufacturer will buy its formulas.
Rumours had pointed to Kentmere and spokesman Garry Hume confirmed that 'tentative enquiries' had been made. Kentmere has also expressed interest in some of Forte's manufacturing equipment.
However, as BJP went to press, Forte had not responded to inquiries, and the only news is that the factory, which is in Vac in Hungary, is to be demolished to make way for housing.
In its heyday, Forte manufactured nearly three million sq m of black-and-white photographic paper and nearly one million sq m of film annually. It offered more than 60 monochrome enlarging papers, including a unique variable constant brown tone paper. Its films came in sheet, 35mm and roll formats in the speed range of ISO100-400. It also produced X-ray diagnostic and graphic arts materials, as well as colour film and papers, and processing chemicals.
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