The M4000 has been shuttered since the end of March, when there was an explosion and small fire in its drier.

Director Paul Mursell said the firm was awaiting the outcome of its insurance claim.

“The press is out of action and subject to an insurance claim, and that takes time,” he said.

“We’ve geared up on the other machinery we’ve got and are running 24/7 on the 16pp and 48pp webs at GD, and on the 16pp web and sheetfed press at EWO in Essex.

EWO runs a 16pp Polyman and an eight-colour B1 KBA Rapida with reel sheeter. GD runs a 16pp Rotoman and 48pp Lithoman. 

The firm prints magazines, catalogues and supplements for a range of clients.

“We haven’t made any redundancies and have kept everything going, and we haven’t had to put much work out,” Mursell added. “Considering what happened we have managed to turn it into a positive.”

Mursell said that investor International Assets & Resources, which has backed EWO Media for a number of years, has now also taken a 25% stake in GD Web Offset with a £1m injection in the business.

Separately, former Garnett Dickinson managing director Mark Bennett, who left the firm at the beginning of 2017 under its then-ownership, is now working for GD and EWO as technical sales and special projects manager. He had previously been working as a consultant at PM Web in Leeds.

GD Web Offset has sales of around £28m, and EWO Media around £10m.