Joint administrators Simon Thomas and Arron Kendall of Moorfields Corporate Recovery were appointed to the Marden, Kent-based firm last Friday (14 November) at the request of the directors.

Six of the firm's 26 staff were made redundant as a result of the appointment.

Noble acquired £4m-turnover Print Logic out of administration in April this year, through a joint venture between herself and Millnet founder Marcus Craggs.

The firm subsequently rebranded as Millnet Document Solutions and embarked on a significant kit investment and expansion programme. At the time, Noble said that she hoped to build a £15m-£20m business within two years.

According to Noble the reasons behind the firm’s collapse were that a key client unexpectedly cut its volumes by two-thirds, which was compounded by the fact that a number of recent contract wins had been delayed until the new year.

“Millnet and I decided that without a significant cash injection the business was in danger of getting into debt and we didn’t want to be in the position where lots of creditors were owed lots of money, that’s just not my style. I tried to persuade Millnet to support us going forward, but it decided not to and I can’t do it on my own,” she said.

“At the end of the day we could have tried to limp through, but we had to do what was the right thing for the staff and creditors.”

She added that the directors had tried to put together a rescue package last week, but stressed that a pre-pack administration was “never an option” and that many of the firm's creditors are covered by a guarantee from parent company Millnet, so she hoped that any bad debt would be minimised.

“This [calling in the administrators] was not a decision we made lightly, but it was the right decision to avoid further losses in the business.”

Noble said that she was also hopeful that a buyer could be found for the business as there had been a number of expressions of interest to the administrator.

She added that while she wasn’t in a position to buy the business herself, if a potential buyer wanted to take on the business as a joint venture then that could appeal.

“I’m still hoping to stay in the industry and do something,” she said.

“We have tried so hard in the last 6 months with all the staff’s help to turn this business round.

“When we took this business on we knew it would be a tough job as under the Print Logic ownership the reputation of the business had been destroyed and the factory and the machinery had been neglected.

“It has taken time to make the site here in Marden fit for purpose in terms of its ability to take on extra work and expand. Ironically we have now reached that point and the revenues for next year looked strong and solid.”