Federal Capital Ltd filed to bankrupt Herbert on 24 May 2023, with the bankruptcy order granted just over a year later, on 9 July 2024 at Southampton County Court.

Herbert may now be forced to repay debts with assets, with any earnings above day-to-day living costs going towards his debts. Any loan above £500 in the next six years will require him to inform the lender of the bankruptcy.

Most recently involved with print businesses Graphic Print Services (GPS) of Ipswich and Hospitality Branding of Bolton, Herbert gave up his directorship at GPS on 9 May 2023, with Hospitality Branding dissolved on the same day.

Herbert had joined GPS – which traded as Print It 24 Seven – in April that year, following the liquidation of his previous firm, LA Digital on 23 March with an estimated deficiency of £589,000.

Fellow GPS directors Alan Ratcliffe and Tony Baily put GPS into liquidation in May 2024, with a deficiency of around £89,000.

The three had previously worked together at Print it 247 (Group), which had been wound up with a deficiency of £425,000.

Eight years prior to LA Digital’s fall, Herbert had been the director and co-owner of Monster Media Management, a Hampshire-based print management firm, which bought struggling family business James Byrne Printing (JBP) in 2015.

JBP was forced to wind up its affairs just two years later, with a final shortfall of £609,000.

Monster Media was helmed by Herbert until July 2019, when it fell into the care of fellow director Aubrey Aviss. The company lasted until March 2020, at which point – still owned by Herbert’s holding company, Peak Holdings – it was placed into liquidation with an estimated deficiency of £202,000.

Herbert's full name is Matthew James Herbert and his last known address was in Blandford Forum, Dorset. He was born in April 1975.