Potential buyers for MCP have been contacted over the past week, and it is believed that Print Factory managing director Steve Brundle was in talks to buy the firm.

Brundle and MCP managing director Neil Jolley were unavailable for comment.

MCP and Fencourt placed a 4m order for Heidelberg kit at Drupa, largely for an SM102-10P with PreSet Plus feeder for MCP.
Wace, in which Brundle's Print Factory has a 70% stake, had been looking at adding another 10-colour long perfector to its battery.

The combined pre-tax losses of both MCP and Fencourt were 200,000 against a turnover of 10.9m according to its last set of accounts to 30 September 2003. It is believed that MCP was looking to move sites by the end of the year following the sale of its Milton Keynes site.

Mike Jervis and David Chubb of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) were appointed as joint administrators to Littlehampton-based Fencourt on 16 May. All 23 staff were laid off by 17 May, but PwC is still hopeful of finding a buyer.

Story by PrintWeek staff