Passing a resolution to wind up the company voluntarily and appoint Ian Yerrill of insolvency firm Yerrill Murphy as liquidator, Layne Penrose, the company’s chair, explained that the company’s liabilities had made it impossible to continue business.

A statement of affairs posted by liquidators on Companies House showed an estimated £465,966 of assets available to unsecured creditors, after employees’ pension schemes and HMRC had taken their dues.

If estimates are accurate, the liquidation would see all creditors paid in full.

Based in Ashford, West London, the 66-year-old firm sold a number of large pieces of equipment, including a six-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster SM 102-6-P3+L press, through asset realisation firm Key Appraisal.

Also listed on the 17 April sale were a pair of Xerox Versant 4100 and 180 digital presses, a Horizon BQ-270V perfect binder, a Muller Martini stitching line, and an older Heidelberg SBG cutting and creasing cylinder.

Mark Humphrey, director of Key Appraisal, told Printweek that there had been strong interest in the auction, and very few lots had gone unsold.

He said: “We managed to achieve a good result for the creditors of the company.”

While there was interest across all lots, Humphrey said, there was particularly strong interest in some of the larger machines for sale, including the digital machinery and the Heidelberg Speedmaster and SBG cutting and creasing cylinder.

“The industry is changing, but there are still buyers out there who want traditional kit – though interestingly, quite a bit of this kit went to trade users,” he added.

Printweek approached Ian Yerrill for comment on the insolvency process. Calls to DCW Penrose's listed phone numbers are no longer being connected.