Sector's symptoms add up to a poor prognosis

To many, print is, to use the vernacular, non-core. And at times like these, when the lenders are retrenching in an attempt to repair their own balance sheets, non-core business will always be first for the chop.

Now, Lombard has stressed that its appetite for print debt in general remains undiminished by its withdrawal from the industry's stocking finance requirements, although some have suggested that this is simply because it never had much of one in the first place. One source likened Lombard's decision to pull out of stocking finance to "BA announcing that it will no longer be running flights to the moon".

The impact of Lombard's decision will be felt (keenly one suspects) by the secondhand equipment dealers, who will doubtless miss one of the lowest-rate lenders in the market. However, if the wider implication is that print is now considered too risky a sector for the high-street banks to operate in on their historical terms and conditions, then the ramifications for the wider industry could be serious.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that while the banks publicly profess that money is available to businesses, in reality the goalposts are being constantly moved to dissuade the would-be borrower from actually taking out a new or even using an existing facility.

Added to this, a number of recent print industry insolvencies (including, most recently, CPC Packaging) have blamed their downfall in part on the withdrawal of funding by their bank.

We are entering a crucial period, both for print and the economy. The long-awaited return to growth is, according to some, at risk of being a short-lived affair.

Regardless of whether or not the dreaded double-dip makes an appearance in the coming 12 months, businesses will need all the support they can get. And while Lombard's decision, CPC's closure, and the persistent reports of a lack of available finance for SMEs might, in isolation, be viewed with less significance, taken together they paint an altogether more worrying picture.