IBM has withdrawn a threat to take Shere Arts to court for an outstanding 240,000 after admitting to a mistake. Not all departments of IBM had been made aware that the legal threat was being made in the first place.


Surrey-based Shere Arts, which uses two IBM Infocolor digital presses worth almost 1m, was surprised to learn that the accounts department of IBM Printing Systems was threatening to take it to court over the outstanding money.


Although Shere Arts had had a minor disagreement with IBMs printing systems division over its maintenance charges, it was not expecting the company to embark upon a county court action against it.


The action had also come as a surprise to another department within IBM that had been dealing directly with the printer, which had been unaware of the threat.


This was an error on our part which caused a genuine misunderstanding, said IBM business manager Nick Marsden.


In future we will look at our accounts on a monthly basis this shouldnt happen again, he added.


Public records reveal that a series of other judgements, dating back to September 1999, have been registered at Portsmouth County Court against Shere Arts. The most recent was an outstanding payment on 14 August, owed to a one-stop supplier.


Sometimes we get involved in projects that put a strain on the business, said managing director Martin Warner.


Story by Jeremy Allen