Laserline's directors told PrintWeek the business had been in decline for a number of years and that all attempts to find a solvent means of saving the business had ultimately failed.
Vincent Simmons of Bennett Verby was appointed as administrator to Laserline Print on 25 September and sold the company on the same day to I Am Print.
I Am Print, registered by Laserline's directors Robin Thomason and Tony Wharton with Companies House on 13 July, was originally intended to act as a domain name for Laserline's new website to market its lower-priced roll-up banners.
But Thomason claimed that orders and income had dropped in the run up to the launch of the website, scheduled for August 2012, putting a strain on the business.
I Am Print was subsequently used to take on the principal business assets and goodwill of the collapsed company, which has continued to trade as Laserline, along with six of its staff.
According to Thomason, Laserline’s original production assistant Andrew Needham, who has worked for the company for 18 years, is to become a third director of the new business. Needham signed share certificates on 8 October, the details of which are still being processed by I Am Print's accountants Josolyne & Co.
Thomason, Wharton and Needham each contributed similar investments in the new company, and will run I Am Print together as equal shareholders.
Thomason and Wharton had instigated a number of cutbacks over the past five years to counteract the negative effects of the recession, but Thomason said the Macclesfield-based company finally "fell off the cliff" in November 2011.
"It wasn’t that we lost any clients, it was just that nobody was spending," he said.
Thomason added that the company had made two staff redundant and introduced at least two universal pay cuts over the past five years, the last of which occurred in May. The recent 10% pay decline resulted in its production manager leaving the company in August.
At one point, staff went down to a four-day week in a last ditch attempt to save the company, according to Thomason.
But the typically quiet period between December and March resulted in Laserline’s turnover reducing from £1m "pre-recession" to £600,000 in 2012 and consequently it was unable to keep up with tax bills, which resulted in fines from HMRC.
Thomason said: "It all happened really suddenly. We sat down with the accountants and realised that we were just not going to catch up on what we owed."
The directors have introduced a further 10% pay cut since reincorporating as I Am Print, and run a "skeleton" staff of four full-time and two part-time employees. A driver who retired in June was not replaced and the company has no intention of recruiting a new production manager.
It has also scrapped its BUPA healthcare insurance benefit and no longer pays dividends to staff. Thomason said that suppliers had been "very good" to them, with only two out of 30 refusing to trade with I Am Print.
He said that around £25,000 outstanding debt before tax was owed to creditors but he had received a letter from Bennett Verby on 13 October explaining that Laserline would be able to pay a percentage of the debts back after recouping invoices from debtors.
Thomason hopes to return to £750,000 turnover within the first 18 months of trading under I Am Print and intends to launch the cut-price marketing website under a new name in November to bring in an estimated £3,000 a month by the end of 2012.
He added: "I wouldn't say we are confident but we are hopeful. There have been plenty of sleepless nights, it has not been pleasant."
