Chief executive Ian Crow put Pelicans demise down to "bad luck and lack of support from the bank".

Holdmede has bought the goodwill, assets and work in progress of Pelican, and has retained 24 of its 37 staff.

Pelican expected a significant dividend payout on the debt, but it became apparent that unsecured creditors wouldnt receive anything.

Crow informed its bank, Barclays, which arranged an immediate audit.
"It literally happened overnight. On the Monday after the audit, the bank had taken a 100,000 lump sum. And we had to pay it 80,000 before we could start writing any other cheques to creditors," said Crow, who was unable to raise funds to keep the family-run company trading.

"Wed been with that bank for 25 years and what happened was beyond our control," he said.

"People will accuse us of setting up a phoenix, but in the cold light of day its not hard to see that we had no other option."

Story by Rachel Barnes