After Pindar went into administration in July, a number of its businesses, including the Preston plant, were closed with no buyer found. Administrator KMPG appointed property consultant Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) to sell the plant and machinery.

Three Heidelberg presses – a three-year-old, six-colour Speedmaster XL105 with double coater, a four-year-old, 12-colour Speedmaster SM 102 with Cutstar and a five-year-old, 10-colour Speedmaster SM 102 with Cutstar – were sold via a private treaty sale, raising around £1.5m.

The rest of the plant was sold in a one-day online auction, which featured 380 lots, on 15 September and which raised more than £500,000.

According to JLL, the disposal generated strong domestic and international interest, with bids from as far afield as Lebanon, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Spain, Germany and Romania.

However, Spencer Chapman, director of machinery and business assets, said that the majority of the machinery was sold to UK businesses.

He added: "The sale was a real success and I believe the volume of bids received can be partly apportioned to the firm’s historic name and the quality of items on offer."