Shere Arts has had its two InfoColor digital presses worth almost 1m removed by IBM.


And confusion surrounds the trading status of the business, based in Surrey, which now answers the telephone as Shere Digital.


Martin Warner, director of both companies, said Shere Arts would continue to trade at the same site "but in a different way, not in the print industry". He would not reveal any further details.


Shere Digital, which was incorporated on 24 July 2000, will be involved "in internet printing" according to Warner, though the exact nature of its operations remains unclear. No digital printing equipment has been bought.


Warner assured PrintWeek that no debts would be left outstanding and that no redundancies have resulted from these events.


Last August IBM Printing Systems registered a county court judgement against Shere Arts over an outstanding maintenance bill of 240,000, although both parties subsequently distanced themselves from the action, which IBM described as "a misunderstanding".


IBM would not comment on why the presses had now been removed.


Shere Arts has not filed accounts since June 1998, when it posted sales of 1.5m and a loss of 3,500 for a 72-week period.


According to Public Records going back to September 1999, a number of other judgements have been registered against Shere Arts.


Story by Jeremy Allen