Graham Frost and Bruce Cartwright of PricewaterhouseCooper were appointed as administrators to the Scottish printer on Tuesday (December 6).

According to the administrator all 54 employees will be made redundant at the £6m-turnover business, which began trading in 1879.

Frost said that the directors had tried to market the business prior to the administrators' appointment, but were unable to find a buyer.

He said: "It is always a great pity to see a long standing Scottish business go into administration.

"The directors had tried to restructure the business and its funding and while they had made good progress in the operating business, they were unable to find a solution for their major creditors."

The announcement has been met with sadness across the Scottish print industry, which has seen a number of closures in the back end of 2011.

Kevin Borgers of KBSA said: "It’s a great pity to witness the demise of such a well-established and respected printer in Stewarts of Edinburgh. 

"It would seem that they’ve fallen victim to a final salary pension scheme that like so many others has fallen into ‘impossible to fund’ arrears."