Haynes announced last Friday (27 February) that it had sold the business for £300,000 in cash on completion and £100,000 in cash payable by installments over the next 12 months. Gross assets subject to the sale totalled £500,000.

Under the terms of the deal, JF Print has acquired the plant and equipment and will continue to print Haynes UK Book Division titles for 12 months following completion. All 43 permanent employees at the site have transferred to JF Print on similar terms and conditions.

Former Mateu Cromo UK sales director Peter Leach, who PrintWeek revealed as the man behind JF Print's bid for Haynes Sparkford print site in December, was unavailable for comment.

However, in a statement sent to PrintWeek, Leach said: With the current strength of the pound, the time is right to be investing in UK-based manufacturing.

Haynes said that the sale of the business, which made a loss of £600,000 in its last full financial year, was consistent with its desire to dispose of non-core activities.

It added: "The agreement ensures that our current manufacturing costs for related products are protected in the short term with realistic expectations of savings in the future periods."

For more see this week's PrintWeek.