Lisa Hogg and Kelly Burton of Wilson Field were appointed joint administrators to the company last Tuesday (27 March), and the company was sold to Craig Ikin and Janette Rennicks of Eastland Colour the same day.

Eastland Colour, which will trade as Pelican Press, was founded on 1 March and listed Ikin as director and sole shareholder, with Rennicks  appointed director on 23 March. Ikin and Rennicks are understood to have been operations manager and commercial manager respectively at Pelican prior to its collapse.

According to the administrators Pelican Press chief executive Ian Crow is involved with the management of Eastland Colour but is not a director.

A letter sent to creditors by Wilson Field yesterday morning (3 April) said that the business had been sold for £20,000, with £10,000 paid on completion and the remainder to be paid in installments.

The letter blames the collapse of the company on the purchase of a second-hand press, which was funded by Close Asset Finance, and overdue taxes. Secured creditor Close Asset Finance made a charge against the company on the 17 January.

The letter to creditors said: "Following the purchase of this printing machine, a refund of approximately £100,000 was due from HMRC. This refund was to be used to fund the short-term cash flow of the business as the turnover had begun to reduce in 2011.

"Upon submission of the Company's VAT return in 2011, HMRC confirmed that they would not be releasing the refund to the company, and it would instead be offset against the overdue PAYE balance.

"The directors approached HMRC with a view to agreeing a time to pay scheme. HMRC rejected all proposals, and threatened to distrain over the assets of the Company. Following this the director approached Wilson Field with a view to obtaining professional insolvency advice."

The business was not offered for sale as a going concern because the administrators did not believe it would achieve a better offer than from the existing management, the letter said.

It added that a pre-pack administration was considered the most appropriate course of action as asset realisations were maximised and claims were minimised as a result of the transfer of employee's contracts.

Hogg added: "The business was advertised in the Independent and in a local paper but no other offers were received. All creditors should receive the letter tomorrow and the administrator proposals will be sent out within six weeks."

Pelican Press previously went into administration in June 2002, which it blamed on a £100,000 bad debt, before emerging as Holdmede. The new company bought the goodwill, assets and work in progress of Pelican, and retained 24 of its 37 staff.