Insolvency practitioner Grant Thornton was appointed to the Derbyshire-based company on Thursday last week (14 August).

According to Unite a number of staff have been sent home, while others remain on site with the company still trading as the administrator attempts to find a buyer.

However, despite constant calls there had been no response on the company’s main phone line as PrintWeek went to press.

According to the 2007 PrintWeek Top 500, Heanorgate employed 65 staff; it is currently unclear how many redundancies have been made.

A spokesman for Unite said: "We are monitoring the situation and hopefully a buyer will be found. However, as yet there have been no noises regarding a sale."

Heanorgate was subject to a management buyout just three years ago. The MBO was led by managing director Brian Reeder, human resources and administration director Sandra Cox, financial director Mike Carey and sales directors Steve Mundin and Tony Holland.

According to Companies House, Cox resigned as a director on 24 June this year. Reeder and Carey are both still directors alongside company secretary Colin Bunce who, appointed on 24 June.

Heanorgate’s most recent accounts filed at Companies House record a pre-tax loss of £62,309 on a turnover of £6.2m for the year ending 31 December 2006, this followed a £103,545 loss the previous year. It had a net debt of £1.37m in 2006.

The news comes in the wake of a raft of administrations and job cuts over the past three months as the printing industry struggles with rising raw material costs, a reduction in the availability of credit and the economic slowdown.

One printer, who asked not to be named, said: "As harsh as it may sound companies such as Heanorgate need to stay down. It has gone into administration because the market is saturated.

I think that financiers are losing their appetite to resurrect defunct print companies, which will aid the industry in the long run."