Numbers have never been my strong point, but some snippets from those dreaded double-maths sessions at school have remained lodged in the far reaches of my brain. One is "two minuses always make a plus". Not when it comes to sticking print businesses together it doesn't, as illustrated by the collapse of Alden HenDi.

Of course this is dreadful news for employees who have been left out of pocket and out of work at quite the worst time of year; and for the group's other creditors that will no doubt include smaller trade suppliers who may end up laying staff off themselves as a result. But is it a surprise, and can we blame the banks? I think not, as this is a print failure that has been a long time coming.

The merger engineered over the summer was hardly achieved from a position of strength on either side. Looking at the available Alden accounts it lost money at the operating level in 2005 with a margin of -3.72% on sales of £12.9m, and by 2006 this had worsened to -12.33% on reduced sales of £10.7m when its pre-tax loss was the best part of £2m.

While HenDi's numbers weren't as parlous and its operating figures were at least moving in the right direction, it was losing money too and I imagine the chill wind blowing through the City will have severely impacted its trading position. And let's not forget that HenDi itself was formed from the merger of two City printers that were finding the going tough.

Ahead of today's Queen's Speech I heard a banking representative on the news this morning defending (yet again) their position regarding extending so-called "normal" terms to businesses during this economic maelstrom. I have to agree with the argument that when it comes to businesses that are weak or failing anyway (as in the case of Woolworths) it's actually more damaging if they are artificially propped up.

Even a cursory glance at PrintWeek's Top 500 shows that we have an overabundance of print companies that are on the critical list and in no shape to survive a couple of bad months, never mind a recession the like of which none of us has seen before. I don't see why those firms should be supported to the continuing detriment of those good businesses that do still exist.