The BPO division of both TPF and DSR was sold yesterday to Office2office-subsidiary AccessPlus, following the appointment of joint administrators Allan Graham and David Standish, of KPMG, on 17 February.

KPMG said that the quickfire sale of the trade and assets of the BPO division, including the leasehold properties in Guildford, Surrey, and Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, plus a wide range of customer contracts, had been necessary in order to "protect the value of the business contracts".

Commenting on the prospective sale of the manufacturing division, Standish said: "The Print Factory Group has a long- established history and a proven ability to service a blue-chip client base.

"We have already, in the first few hours of our appointment, had a number of expressions of interest in purchasing the print business. We are confident that these expressions will lead to firm offers to acquire the business."

TPF Group companies Printhaus and McCorquodales, which TPF acquired in January 2009 and May 2005 respectively, are understood to be unaffected by the administration.

Meanwhile, former majority shareholder Thames Valley Capital (TVC), which bought a 51% stake in The Print Factory last month, is understood to have walked away after a solvent solution to TPF's woes proved impossible to realise.

TVC founder Bruce Gordon said: "TVC always believed that a solvent solution was the best answer for the business. Unfortunately, when we got in there, we found the problems the business was facing were bigger than we had expected and ultimately it proved impossible to satisfy the conditions that were necessary in order to secure the company's future."

Gordon stressed that the BPO side of the business was a growth area and that outsourcing would continue to grow. "That's what attracted us in the first place," he added.

It is not yet known how many staff have been transferred to AccessPlus as a result of its acquisition of the BPO business. However, the administrator has confirmed that no redundancies have been in the manufacturing side of the business.