Trafford Press dated back more than 130 years and was the printing arm of the Co-op before it was bought by Ormolu in May 1999.

Chairman and chief executive Bob Hodgson said that the move was due to overcapacity and there were no plans to transfer staff to its other plants in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh.

"Four years of continual losses and no prospect of additional sales from our existing markets have forced the Ormolu board to make this decision," said Hodgson.

Agreement was reached with the GPMU last week and the site will continue to operate in sales and pre-press services. The proposed redundancies will take effect from 28 May.

Last year Ormolu restructured the Manchester operation and renamed the commercial printing arm Pillans & Waddies.

Haymarket Publishing, the publisher of PrintWeek, is one of the clients affected by the closure as P&W produced Manchester United's matchday magazine United Review, which is contract published by Haymarket Customer Magazines.

Haymarket production director Chris King said that Haymarket was contractually obliged to remain with the Ormolu Group but there was "initial concern" that production could be moved to one of the group's Scottish sites.

"Any move away from Manchester would not be useful for the club and the client may dictate where it would want to be printed," said King.

He added that Haymarket has around two months to make a final decision, with the new football season starting in August.

"The closure is an awful shame because the experience we had with Trafford Press was excellent. The staff there had done a fantastic job and our sympathies go out to them," said King.

Story by Philip Chadwick