UK Greetings, which is a subsidiary of the American Greetings Corporation (AGC), had previously outsourced the manufacture of its seasonal greetings cards (Christmas, Easter, etc) to East Asia, although production of its Everyday (birthdays and occasion) cards had remained at its Canon Way facility in Dewbury, West Yorkshire.
In a statement, the company said that it had recently tested "the feasibility and benefits of outsourcing its remaining print and print finishing requirements, to include Everyday product, to the Far East and to AGC's manufacturing operations in North America".
These tests were said to have shown that "efficiency benefits will be achieved in the supply chain by following this course of action" whilst maintaining customer service and product quality.
"Therefore, The company has taken the difficult decision to cease its UK based manufacturing operations over a phased period, likely to conclude in August 2015," the statement said.
"Although this would result in those positions in the manufacturing function becoming redundant, the company will be converting the manufacturing floorspace to warehousing and distribution, and therefore some opportunities may be available for those whose position is affected by the cessation of manufacturing operations.
"The company has also made a significant investment and recently acquired a 19,000sqm warehouse and distribution facility in Bretton Park, Dewsbury, which means all of the company’s warehouse and distribution operations will now be consolidated into two Dewsbury based sites.
"Colleagues affected by the cessation of manufacturing in Dewsbury will also be made aware of opportunities which arise in Bretton Park."
UK Greetings said that, from a strategic perspective, the decision to outsource its remaining print and finishing function would enable it to have a clear focus on its "core business" as a publisher.
UK Greetings said it was unable to reveal how many staff were affected by the decision as it was currently in consultation still.
The move is the latest blow for greetings card printing in the UK following Hallmark UK's decision to outsource its manufacturing, with the loss of up to 300 jobs at its Bradford production facility, earlier this year.
According to its most recent accounts, for the year ended 28 February 2013, UK Greetings made an operating loss of £7.2m on turnover of £159m. This was reduced to a pre-tax loss of £1.1m primarily due to the receipt of £6m from subsidiary undertakings.
A tax credit of £1.7m meant the company posted a net profit of £526,000 for the year.
