The group has begun a 30-day consultation over the proposed loss of 26 positions at the web offset printer.

Walstead group chief operating officer Roy Kingston said that a further eight people had left the company in recent months, and would not be replaced. The Bicester operation had previously employed 222 staff.

“This is purely reflecting the market,” he said. “A number of publications have shut that happened to be produced at Bicester. We are slightly reducing shifts in the pressroom and that has an affect across the factory.”

He said the none of the group’s other UK sites were affected, and the Bicester business would be in a position to scale up again if there was an upturn in business.

Walstead Bicester runs six web offset presses from 16pp to 72pp in format, and has an extensive in-house bindery including four stitching lines and three perfect binders, as well as mailroom equipment.

It specialises in the production of time-sensitive titles for a range of publishers including Dennis Publishing, Immediate Media, TI Media and Private Eye.

Walstead Bicester had sales of £35.6m in its most recent accounts, for calendar year 2017. The overall group has sales of around €730m (£637m) following a string of continental acquisitions.

The former Wyndeham businesses were rebranded as Walstead earlier this month.