The former owners of Hull-based Harlands Labels, which they acquired in 2003 before selling to Clondalkin in June 2005, bought 87.5% of the business from Nigel Dace and Alison Murrie – the son and the daughter of the founder.

Dutton said: "The company has an excellent senior management team, a great workforce and has made smart investment into the best possible equipment that has kept it at the leading edge of quality and manufacturing standards."

WPS employs 42 full- and part-time staff and occupies a 2,415sqm premises on Hellaby Industrial Estate, near Rotherham. The business ranked number 362 in the PrintWeek Top 500 with a turnover of £4.8m.

Wright said: "WPS is a great business with even better potential. To be able to lead the firm forward, with the full support of the existing management, is a really exciting opportunity for us and we want to ensure the founders would be proud of what we achieve in the future."

The deal was arranged through Garbutt & Elliot and completed in April. News of the deal has only just been announced due to contractual reasons.

Richard Feltham, who headed up the team, said: "The print sector as a whole has had a challenging time as rapidly changing new technology and the emergence of direct mail and marketing has totally changed the market."