BPIF director of corporate and external affairs Cicely Brown said the federation would lobby government to make resources available to enforce the Insolvency Act 1986.

Ourselves and ICSM are developing links with the Insolvency Service to find ways of effectively policing the system, to make it less easy to close down, wipe your debts and start again the next day, said Brown.

The organisations are calling on the industry to provide concrete evidence on insolvency practitioners that breach legislation.

ICSM debt recovery manager Andy Allies said: We encourage members to report phoney phoenixes through our weekly bulletin and encourage all creditors to play an active role in the insolvency process.

Allies will produce a guide for printers dealing with insolvency practitioners, which should be available in the new year.

BPIF chief executive Michael Johnson highlighted the damage done by phoenix companies when he met minister for e-commerce and competitiveness Stephen Timms earlier this month (PrintWeek, 5 November).