The group announced this morning that loans of £32.4m have been repaid in a debt-for-equity swap led by the company's owner John Madejski and "largely focused" on subsidiary BGP.

Chief executive David Holland said this has eliminated "most of the group's debt".

Following on from this announcement as to the company’s financial positioning, Holland has also announced that group sales director Bob Caley was leaving the business.

Caley has clarified that he resigned before the announcement and is on an agreed period of garden leave.

Steve Palmer, the managing director of BGP's sheetfed arm Stones the Printers, has been appointed group sales director, in addition to his existing responsibilities.

In a statement, Holland said the investment in capital facilities and equipment equated to £34m and had involved "exceptional revenue expenditure" during the current and previous financial years in excess of £20m.

Holland said Goodhead was already "significantly profitable" in its sheetfed division in Banbury while he anticipated "some blue sky" in Bicester in the next financial year – which would be the third of a five-year strategic plan.

According to the PrintWeek Top 500, the Goodhead Group made a pre-tax loss of £10.1m on a turnover of £47.5m in the year to May 2007, a 28% fall in turnover on the previous year.