According to the firm's administrators, the Sheffield-based printer was hit by a perfect storm of mounting rent arrears, rising business rates and a 40% rise in paper costs since 2016. This led to the business having to make pro forma payments to suppliers, which crippled its cashflow.

As a result, Andy Wood and Lisa Hogg of insolvency practitioner Wilson Field were appointed joint administrators last Wednesday (27 March) and 23 of the company’s 30 staff made redundant.

A small number of staff are still at the business completing work in progress and assisting Wilson Field as it seeks a buyer.

“In common with many in the printing industry, Evolution Print found itself facing soaring increases in wholesale paper costs,” said Wood.

“This is in a very competitive industry where cost increases cannot easily be passed on and where margins are tight.

“Cashflow problems developed, and things came to a head when legal action was threatened in respect of arrears in business rates. This was further aggravated by suppliers requesting pro forma invoices which resulted in difficulty obtaining the basic raw materials to trade, leaving the directors with little alternative but to seek professional advice.”

PrintWeek was unable to contact Evolution Print managing director Jonathan Newbould for comment at the time of writing.

Valuation and disposal specialist Charterfields in Manchester is dealing with the sale of Evolution Print, with interested parties advised to contact Ian Maycock.

Speaking to PrintWeek in 2016, the firm described itself as generating commercial B1 and B2 litho, large-format and digital print for “production-skilled, market-savvy, top creative corporate clients" and enjoyed national coverage.