In an exclusive interview with Print Week, Toplis confirmed that he had acquired the brand following the collapse of former Kall Kwik and Prontaprint owner On Demand Communications (ODC).

Sara Jamison, former chief executive of ODC, has acquired the Prontaprint brand along with the company’s former finance director Roger Baker.

Like Jamison, Toplis is to offer existing Kall Kwik franchisees the choice to carry on using the brand name under a licensed arrangement, rather than a franchise model, or to leave the network and rename their business.

Jacqui White, partner at Kall Kwik in Banbury, Oxfordshire said: "I feel very sad for the employees of ODC who have lost their jobs right before Christmas but from our point of view the opportunity to operate as a licensed business rather than a franchise could work to our advantage; we have been going for 23 years so we did not really need the extra business support which we were paying for as a franchise.

"Perhaps the newer businesses might find if more difficult but they will still benefit from the peer support that they will get through the Independent Kall Kwik Franchise Owners Association (IKKFOA) network."

John Mooney, owner of Kall Kwik franchises in Centre Point and Bishopsgate, said: "We went to an IKFFOA meeting last Friday when we heard about a possible offer from Nigel Toplis and the consensus of opinion seemed to be that people welcomed the news.

"Toplis is a franchise man, and the new deal where we operate as licensees rather than franchisees sounds good to me. My business has been operating for 11 years and for the past three years we got nothing in return for our franchise fees. I hope to carry on under the Kall Kwik brand."

Another source told PrintWeek: "While it is regrettable that the Kall Kwik brand has collapsed, Toplis is offering a sensible alternative and I think it will prove popular."