The Bangor, County Down-based print business appointed Stephen Cave and Paul Rooney of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) as joint administrators on Monday (21 August).

Of the firm's 34 staff, 32 have been made redundant, with two staff retained to assist the administrators.

According to the administrators, Commercial Graphics was forced to cease trading due to "severe cashflow pressures" arising from the economy and increased competition.

Cave said: "The company’s trading position deteriorated largely due to declining turnover in the current economic climate and a significant increase in competition in the local print sector.

"Despite the efforts of the directors to secure the future of the business, severe cashflow pressures led to a cessation of trading last week, with 32 employees being made redundant.

"Our immediate objective will be to determine the financial position of the company, and to examine potential sale opportunities."

In a statement, the joint managing directors of Commercial Graphics said: "This has been a very difficult time for the company and workforce.

"The directors did their utmost to maintain the company’s viability in an extremely competitive and challenging Northern Ireland printing market. We regret that our efforts were unsuccessful."

Commercial Graphics (NI) provided a range of design, pre-press and specialised printing solutions and was a former BPIF Printer of the Year. The company was founded in 1929 and relocated to a purpose-built facility in Bangor fifty years later.