Administrator Simon Campbell from Quantuma Advisory and Paul Appleton of Begbies Traynor were appointed at Hoddesdon-based Crystal Press on 12 July.

In a statement, Reflections managing director Luke Hastings said that Crystal Press had been severely impacted by the pandemic.

The levels of Covid debt within the company had built up significantly, coupled with an “unaffordable electricity contract renewal at the peak of the market last year”.

Because of the situation the directors decided the firm was unable to continue as a going concern and Crystal Press ceased normal trading at the end of May.

The firm had specialised in high-end printing for book and magazine publishers, and its equipment included a B1 Komori H-UV press as well as digital and extensive post-press kit.  

The sale of its business and assets was agreed with the owners of Reflections Print Finishers on 10 July.

Reflections said that 13 remaining jobs were saved, and the deal had preserved the “the globally recognised brand of Ecofoil substrates”.

In the year to 30 June 2022 Crystal Press had employed 35.

Hastings commented: “The immediate synergy between our companies was clear and we are very excited to increase our client offering with a whole raft of new services such as cold foil, Ecofoil, miniature folding and full sheet embossing.

“The acquisition will also mean that we are able to expand our book binding department further, with the addition of saddle stitching, lay flat binding and short-run digital binding equipment.”

He added: “We will continue to operate the site at Hoddesdon as a standalone business, utilising the skill and technical know-how of the team to continue producing Ecofoil.

Reflections will also continue to use the ‘Crystal’ name, which was part of the sale.

“We definitely intend to use this furthermore in the future. The company’s roots are 30 years old so it would have been a terrible shame to lose that significant brand identity,” said Hastings.

The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Hastings said the unencumbered equipment was minimal, with the major plant subject to finance leases.

He said the Crystal business was a separate entity to Reflections, and Reflections would be targeting sales of £2m for Ecofoil, which is billed as being 100% recyclable and carbon balanced, and with “unlimited” creativity.

Reflections Print Finishers is based in Sidcup. The firm employs 50 and has sales of around £5m. I

Prior to the pandemic the business acquired London luxury print specialist Benwells after that business hit the buffers due to a downturn in sales.