Arran Developments' sole owner Tony Hills said the machine went out to field testing in October instead of the target date due to a "major technical issue" needing to be sorted out.

Hills declined to reveal information on the machine or the manufacturing partner, but said: "R&D is 99% there. [The kit] is unique. It'll be of great interest to large-format printers."

Arran went into administration 22 November and "ceased to trade" before being bought out by Hills last Friday (7 December), according to Ben Robson, case manager at administrator FA Simms & Partners.

The three-staff firm has rebranded as Automation Developments, having "cleared the decks of all the money that had been put in", said Hills.

Hills told printweek.com that the move into administration had been "a paperwork thing".

FA Simms' Robson said: "Creditors remain within the administration process and proceeds will go on to paying off their debt." He added that it was "too early to tell whether there'll be a distribution of funds back to the creditors".