Following the move, the 135-staff firm in north Wales will be rebranded to its historical name, Dobson & Crowther, which was bought by Smurfit Kappa Group in the 1970s. 

"Smurfit acquired us when it came into the UK," said sales director John Goddard, part of the MBO team. "It was non-core to their business, became even more non-core, and we decided it was a good opportunity to do an MBO and go it alone.

"The route to market is very short and you need to be quick on your feet. We felt we could be that by not being part of a big firm."

His company in Llangollen, Denbighshire, makes more than half a billion printed envelopes a year and makes over 11m turnover. Kit includes a five-colour KBA and five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster.

"The envelope market has been very slow to adopt technology like JDF and new repro formats. We want to add value to the product without costing the client a lot more."

The MBO team includes chairman Mike Smith and Paul Holden, managing director. Goddard used to be a partner at Manchester litho printer Armin & Butler and sold out last summer before joining the Welsh firm.