Documents filed on Companies House on 13 March show the Gloucester-based commercial printer was owed £789,000 at the time it went bust, with liquidators estimating they will be able to realise £656,000 from book debtors.

The firm hit trouble shortly after it was acquired by Swindon-based Handel Group, when it became clear that a key £1.5m contract had been lost, according to Simon Smogur, managing director of Handel Group and its subsidiaries in ESP Group.

He told Printweek in February: “The revenue associated to this account started to reduce rapidly shortly after our acquisition. We were not made aware of expecting this.

“This unfortunately meant the business could no longer service its debt and the only outcome was to place the business into liquidation.”

Of Severn’s £3.5m total shortfall, £844,000 was owed to its new sister company ESP Colour.

Administrators Alexander Kinninmonth and James Prior of FRP Advisory in Salisbury will now liquidate Severn’s assets and pay creditors as far as possible.

Handel group purchased Severn in October 2023, taking on its digital wing in a move that would have roughly doubled Handel’s digital business.

Smogur said the firm immediately sold Severn’s litho assets – a pair of Speedmasters – to pay down “a big chunk” of its existing debt.

Severn employed around 40 people at the time of purchase.