Mark Roach and Graham Randall of Numerica in Bristol were made joint administrative receivers on 6 December at the request of Avalon's directors.

The Bristol firm had suffered problems following the acquisition of local rival Christies earlier this year, which it had just recovered from when it was hit by a bad debt of 108,000 following the administration of Wace in Swindon.

"The bad debt from Wace just pushed it over the edge," said Roach. "When companies like Wace go there tends to be a knock-on effect down the chain."

As PrintWeek went to press, Avalon managing director Nigel Cuming was unavailable for comment. Sister firms Avalon Mailing Services and Challenor Trading continue to trade.