However, it added a further £3m could not be claimed as printers did not react quickly enough. The company has warned the print industry to act fast, particularly if a company appears to be facing administration.

Ian Carrotte, managing director of ICSM, said: "Unfortunately there were those that had to be written off where the printer had delayed action until it was too late. The debtor had, or was in the process of going bust. Even we can't recover funds from a company who has entered administration.

"Had that £3m worth of debt been passed to us on average just a few weeks earlier, the chances are that nearly all of it would have been recovered. The simple fact of the matter is that creditors should act sooner rather than later. If this were so, we could virtually guarantee successful recovery in almost every case."

ICSM set up Safety Net in June this year in order to offer further protection for the print industry. Around 150 printers have signed up, including Butler Tanner & Dennis.