Photographer Matilda Temperley, who had made a 50% pre-payment for the printing of a photobook to document the Somerset Floods, chained herself to the railings at the Frome site in a successful bid to get her £5,000 deposit back.
Earlier today she tweeted that the money was being transferred and she would now be able to get on with the project.
And the People of Print creative community is looking for a new printer for its Print Isn’t Dead quarterly magazine, which was also due to be printed in Frome.
People of Print raised more than £6,500 via crowd funding site Kickstarter to fund the project, described as “a showcase of outstanding illustration and design work demonstrating and pushing the boundaries of print in all forms”.
The publication, which will be at least 64pp and will feature a Pantone neon spot colour throughout, is due to be sent to backers in July.
People of Print sent out a bulletin to supporters this week, explaining the situation. It said: “Today we received the news that we will no longer be able to print our magazine with BT&D because the company is going into administration.”
It is currently in the process of finding a new printer in the UK to work with on the project.
Another buyer contacted PrintWeek in search of an alternative supplier for a book that was just about to be printed.
The buyer said: “We had a book that was due to start printing last week. Then we had a phone call saying BT&D was closing down and they wouldn’t be able to print it.”
Meanwhile, industry connections of the 169-year-old business continue to express their sorrow at its impending demise.
KBA UK managing director Andrew Pang worked at Butler & Tanner for 24 years before joining the press manufacturer, which was a key supplier to the business.
He said: “It is very sad news. I know Gerald [White, chief executive] and his team have been working very hard to make the business work. I still have a lot of friends who work there and I really feel for them.”
An administrator is due to be formally appointed at Butler Tanner & Dennis Ltd on 23 May. The separate map printing operation is unaffected.
The book printing side of the business had sales of just under £11m in 2012, down 17% on the prior year. It halved its losses to £749,227 (2011 loss: £1.5m).
As part of the merger deal with Berforts that took place last summer, BT&D’s then-owner Felix Dennis wrote off shareholder’s loans of £5.7m and repaid a bank overdraft of £1.1m in an effort to transform the firm’s balance sheet.
