It is also believed that several of the machines have already been sold off to a second-hand machinery dealer, while some machines are scheduled to be moved to TPF's Northampton site.

The company announced in July that the site could close, but has spent the last two months looking to strike a deal for the company.

Those deals have since fallen through and TPF has now reverted back to its original plan, with staff being made redundant or offered relocation to one of the company's other sites.

Unite officer Martin Hodges told PrintWeek: "There is no-one else in the offing to buy [Wace] and staff have been given written notice that it will close on 26 October."

It is unclear at this point how many redundancies will be made. TPF was unable to comment at the time of going to press.

For more information, see this week's PrintWeek magazine.