GPMU Ouse valley branch secretary Steve Ireland said that the original proposal of 98 job cuts had been reduced to 80 and that the union and Quebecor had a good working relationship.

Ireland said: "We have agreed numbers with the company and think that were virtually there regarding volunteers. They will now consider if those we have put forward for voluntary redundancy are acceptable."

Quebecor entered a 30-day consultation process after it announced the proposed plans to cut around 10% of its workforce at the end of last month. At the time operations manager Andrew Parker cited overcapacity in the web sector, intense competition from Europe and reduced demand as the reasons for the cuts (PrintWeek, 1 February).