A number of printers are believed to have made enquiries about the Bradford company, including John Blackburn in Leeds, Gask & Hawley in Manchester (parent company to Ashprint in Trafford Park) and a consortium of businessmen connected to the print industry.

A source close to the deal said: The problem that the administrators have is that Berrys is sitting on a site that is worth 4m as an industrial property, and 20m if they sell it off as a commercial development.

If they did sell the assets and site, they could pay off the creditors 100% of what they are owed, he claimed.

Berrys runs a battery of Harris web presses, including a 24pp M3000, a 16pp press and two M110 8pp machines.

They bought a 5m M3000 only a short time ago that would only be worth 1m at auction now. Part of the problem was that Yorkshire Bank took a charge on the property as part of that deal.

Before that the family owned all the freehold. It was a case of the company getting too ambitious, too quickly, said the source.

Already half of Berrys 180 workforce have been laid off as a result of the lack of a firm bid and shortage of work. GPMU West Yorkshire regional officer Ronnie Fieldhouse said the job cuts have come from across the board.

The problems with Berrys are that they are a private company. When Polestar were in similar trouble they suddenly found 75m to play with. Thats not available to Berrys, Fieldhouse said.

Neither John Blackburns or Gask & Hawley were available for comment.

Story by Tony Brown