The plant had been haemorrhaging cash for years (£20m since 2002) and various kit investments had failed to turn the tide.

While, of course, closing such a historic company is no easy decision – and I’m sure the fact that 250 jobs hung on the decision didn’t make it any easier – I can’t help but wonder why it took so long to realise the problem was terminal.

This week’s Client Audit is pretty indicative of what’s been happening in the long-run book market, with the highlighted publisher revealing that only 40% of its books are still printed in the UK, the rest being produced in the Far East and Europe.

The UK book sector, particularly in the colour books market, has long been fighting a losing battle against foreign rivals, which offer substantial cost benefits that aren’t, as a rule, troubled by the longer lead terms.

That’s not to say the UK book printing industry is ready to throw in the towel – far from it. Instead, it’s taking a long hard look at its business model.

To this end, there has been an upsurge in interest in on-demand book printing, Cromwell Press Group being the latest in a long line of firms to invest in the prerequisite digital technology.

In fact, some book printers are even using their digital facilities to lock publishers into their offset services by enabling them to manage the entire life-cycle of a book.

But the sad closure of Bath Press is another body blow for print in Somerset, which has been blighted by a number of major closures in the past couple of years.

On the bright side, if there is such a thing in this case, at least this latest blow might create some breathing space for the few remaining UK book printers.

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Darryl Danielli is editor of PrintWeek.