The company said that despite ongoing investment in acquisitions and restructuring, the group's balance sheet remained strong and underlying free cash flow continued to be robust.

It added: "Whilst there is no sign of improvement from the difficult trading conditions across our print markets, our marketing services businesses are performing well, growing and combining to offer a unique and compelling customer proposition."

Share price dropped 8.5p during morning trading to 140.5p, at the time of writing.

This morning (18 June) it emerged that plan had proved unsuccessful.

In a statement, chief executive Chard said: "The shareholders of MPG Printgroup have today announced that they have abandoned the possibility of a rescue plan for parts of the Group. Despite overwhelming support from the company's employees, lenders, customers and suppliers the challenge to overcome a number of inherent issues has proved too great.

"As a result all remaining employees at MPG's plants at King's Lynn and Bodmin are to be made redundant while steps are taken to put the company into administration which is anticipated to occur within the next week or so. It is hoped that the technologically advanced operating sites will be preserved, with opportunity given to interested parties to purchase the assets in situ.

"It is a matter of deep regret that a rescue plan was not possible and the shareholders extend their thanks to all Employees for their long service and dedication over many years."

Chard told PrintWeek: "It has been a very emotional roller coaster but this pales into insignificance against the backdrop of 200 employees losing their jobs."

The group experienced a cashflow crisis last month, apparently due to over-running costs at its new Cambridge site. It had been in limbo since.

Creditors including paper companies and asset finance businesses contacted by PrintWeek are yet to react to the latest turn of events.

Check back for updates.

"The market is definitely not flat for us; we're bucking the trend," he said. "Turnover is four times what we achieved last year and well over half of that is from overseas work.

"We hear lots of talk of British manufacturing not doing do well, but we are a British manufacturer and we are selling products around the world. We are still a small company but turnover is going up rapidly."

Ryan said the company had made three installations in the last six months and export markets included Canada, India, Malaysia and Indonesia. It recently appointed an agent in New Zealand.

"Over here it's a bit static, and if a particular market is not that vibrant we can go further afield. We can retrofit most systems including Heidelberg, Manroland, KBA and Komori; we are not tied to any one manufacturer."

Managing director Marc Boden, who oversaw the installation in Pakistan, said: "I was able to meet with the Foiltone agent Al-Abbas and was impressed by their knowledge and with their customer-base in Pakistan.

Al-Abbas managing director Jawwad Husayn Jafri said: "We were able to see Benford's quality and service first hand and had no hesitation in accepting the offer to take their excellent products to our market place."

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"We are on a steadily improving trend and the story is logical and in line with the strategy we have previously announced," he added.

The company has invested in the refurbishment of its existing facility near Amsterdam to include a new "solutions centre" kitted out with a full range of digital print-on-demand (POD) equipment, as well as a series of meeting rooms. The site will also become Screen's European spares centre.

The new Luton base, which has retained 34 staff, will continue to provide the same sales, helpdesk, spares and support services across the UK. Screen has recruited four new members of staff for its Netherlands operations, to replace UK staff that did not want to relocate.

Screen Europe president Brian Filler said that the move reflected the transition of its products from CTP to POD. "In the past we were selling hundreds of units at €100,000 each where we could afford to have multiple demo centres across Europe, but now we sell tens of units at €1.5m it becomes more difficult to keep that value of equipment on the books. It changes the whole structure of what we do."

"No-one really needs to see CTP demos any more and if they do we can just take them to any number of customers that have them, but if someone wants to see a POD device then they need to travel to the European showroom to see it but that is nothing out of the ordinary."

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"Latin America and Asia Pacific will now become very important markets for us going forward."

The Mimaki JV5 roll-to-roll printer is available in four- or six-colour configurations, has a maximum speed of 50sqm per hour and is offered with a choice of HS3 or SS21 solvent and ES3 eco-solvent inks.

Heckford opted for SS21 outdoor-durable solvent inks, which do not require pressroom ventilation and are supplied in two-litre ‘eco-sacks' delivered in 100% recyclable packaging.

Pressroom manager at the circa 50-staff company Pawel Dunaj said that with the new inks, the upgrade provided a more comfortable working environment than with the HS3 inks used with the older model and was far more efficient.

"The new JV5 with bulk SS21 inks has been a real improvement for us. I can safely say there are almost no fumes or odour and we no longer need a carbon filter," he said. "The bulk ink system is also useful because we don't need to replace the inks as often."

Dunaj said one of the machine's highlights was that it enabled the company, which specialises in high-quality vinyl, signage, exibition and interior and exterior displays, to produce PVC banners at 40sqm per hour "at great quality".

I-sub Digital director Andy Spreag said: "It is a great testament to the JV5 printer that a respected company like Heckford has chosen to purchase the same machine as they did six years ago.

"It demonstrates that Mimaki JV5 technology is still offering fantastic print quality at the fast production speeds normally associated with grand-format machines."

"We've had a blast creating their characters and storylines. It's not every day you get to write Their Royal Highnesses into The Beano - we hope they like it!"

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Print equipment at the facility includes a Heidelberg CD102-7, a Heidelberg CX102-7 and a Ricoh Digital C751.

Carlin said that the software, which GMG claims boosts efficiency and reduces waste and operator time by automating and standardising colour spaces across devices, has increased the company's confidence in providing "right-first-time" print results and consistency between machines.

Oriel Printing has also invested in GMG's InkOptimizer, which is designed to conserve ink, resulting in a saving of at least 10% ink consumption, according to Carlin.

GMG UK managing director Toby Burnett claimed that his company's colour management software could save printers "hundreds of thousands of pounds a year" in reduced waste and increased productivity.

"More often, printers are finding it harder to achieve accurate visual matches to standardised proofs, especially when a diverse range of substrates are being used," he added.

This results in extended makeready times at the press and increased production costs. Clients that implement our ColorServer technology dramatically reduce these difficulties, and reduce makeready times."

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As part of the growth plan Gary Egan has joined as production manager, Andy Webb has been appointed to project manage a number of key client events and Steven Silverton joined to head up Rocket's newly created retail division.

The firm is also looking to further boost its installation teams and artwork studio later this year.

The appointments follow the Watford firm taking on an additional factory unit over Christmas 2012, doubling its floor space. This enabled it to install a raft of refurbished kit, including a 3.2m-wide EFI Vutek QS3200 UV flatbed, two Mimaki JV5 series roll-to-roll printers, and a Zünd G3 digital cutter.

"We've started to do a lot work in sport hospitality branding, which increasingly involves temporary walls wrapped with large-format graphics rather than the traditional, build, skin and paint structures," said Porter.

"The market seems to be growing and growing and the QS is perfect for that type of work because it enabled us to produce high-quality wraps up to 3.2m wide and most of the walls are up to 3m."

High-profile events the company has worked on this year include the Champions League Final at Wembley, Silverstone and the Paris Air Show. It also has a strong presence in the retail sector.

The company also installed a refurbished 5m-wide HP Scitex solvent printer last year, which according to Porter enabled it to offer grand-format printer and gain a foothold in the fascia market.

The company is now mulling an investment in a second grand-format press.

The business is on track to achieve £4.2m in sales this year, compared to £3.3m last year and the company is targeting £5m next year. According to Porter, just as importantly the firm has so far maintained margin as it has grown.

Once we got through £3m, which we had been trying to achieve for a number of years, it signalled a real step change in the business. We were lucky to get the services of ex-Service Graphics finance director David Wicks, who came on board to help drive growth and without him we might not have seen all these opportunities or grasped them," said Porter.

Wicks joined the business last April in a business development/finance role and helped Porter create a three-year growth plan.

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However, any deal would require the support of key stakeholders, including MPG's banks and suppliers, as well as customers and employees.

Paper suppliers will be particularly crucial to any possible deal.

The hiatus at the business has now entered its third week.

Employees left in limbo by the current situation have expressed frustration on printweek.com's online forum, as have customers who have been left in the lurch.

One author told PrintWeek: "I got a quote in March and sent in my deposit, but they were never in touch about it after that. All of a sudden on 20 May the order was put on the system. I've no idea if my books have been printed or not."

A supplier to the group said he was yet to hear any concrete proposals. "We haven't heard a thing and it's getting to the stage where we will have to act. The biggest enemy of any deal of this nature is delay," he said.

The group had been expected to go into administration last week, but to the best of PrintWeek's knowledge this has not yet happened.

A notice of intention to appoint an administrator was filed at the High Court by the directors of MPG Printgroup on 6 June. This provides the business with a breathing space and protection from other actions, such as winding up petitions by creditors, for ten working days.

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The Vutek joins PressOn's arsenal of latex printers, an HP LX850, HP LS6500 and HP L25500, and its HPZ6100 and DuPont Cromaprint 22UV UV-curable large format printers.

The machine was chosen for its in-line multi-layer print capability and greyscale technology with variable droplets and for its ability to print pure white ink on coloured substrates. The Vutek will be linked to PressOn's existing GMG colour management software.

Joint founding managing director of PressOn, Andy Wilson commented: "Our customers have always insisted upon high quality print from us, but the demand for the absolute best image quality has become more and more evident. To continue to satisfy customers in this higher premium market we needed a machine that was flexible, could print on any substrate even on heavily textured materials. With the tight deadlines our customers need, high production speeds were extremely important too."

Robin East, sales and marketing director at supplier CMYUK added: "Combining true greyscale capability with a very wide colour gamut is complemented by the Vutek QS2 Pro's versatility on rigid and flexible materials, plus its optimised ink usage for lower costs per print."

PressOn reported that further investments would be made later this month to complete this investment phase. Company turnover, which increased by 38% from 2011 to 2012, is expected to increase by 10% per annum for the next three years as a result of the investments.

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"We expect to attract a lot of digital and commercial printers to use the W3P platform. What we are offering is a game changer for web-to-print," he added.

"Our number one focus for the year is to gain momentum with our SaaS initiatives. That is going to incur cost so we doubt our earnings will significantly move forward this year but once they are firmly embedded the profits will begin to take care of themselves."

As part of the "repositioning" and refocusing of the group's operations Printing.com is to change its holding company name to Grafenia to "reflect the broad graphic nature of the group's activity" and to avoid confusion and misunderstanding when marketing the TemplateCloud and W3P offerings.

All brands including the Printing.com franchise, will remain the same.

"We are more than just a printing company. We are a software development house that offers slick, clever and innovative services and our name change reflects that," said Rafferty.

The name will be rubber-stamped at the company's next AGM.

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It follows a record year in 2012 with revenue increasing by 26% on 2011 and a 74% increase in adjusted pre-tax profits.

Chief executive Ian Dinwoodie said: "All applications are growing in industrial, packaging and graphic arts. The strongest growth is in ceramic tile decoration where we are seeing a major and significant industry shift from analogue to digital - the fastest and highest penetration we have ever seen - which we expect to continue for the next three years or so."

Dinwoodie said that despite the global economic crisis, Europe had also continued to show fairly strong growth, but that the real acceleration was in China.

"China is picking up very strongly for ceramic tiles now because half of the world's ceramic tiles are produced there. We are definitely moving in the right direction," he added.

In its trading update Xaar said it was accelerating research and development investment "to expand the conversion potential of analogue processes to digital inkjet across a range of markets".

The company said it would invest more than £12m in R&D in 2013, but added that while the growth in R&D was expected to broadly match the percentage increase in revenue, a higher rate of revenue growth would result in a strong operating margin.

Meanwhile, the company's expertise in 3D print technology has led Xaar to be included in one of 18 projects announced last week as the winners of £14.7m worth of investment.

With £8.4m to be funded through the government's Technology Strategy Board and a further £6.3m to come from private sector investment, the funding has been committed to further the development of 3D technology for manufacturing industries.

Xaar is working with a consortium including FaraPack, Unilever Central Resources, BAE Systems, Cobham Technical Services and Marker Block on a project that will develop structural parts for industries including FMCG and aerospace.

Xaar's will develop and deliver specialist printheads as well as knowledge and expertise in additive manufacturing to the project.

Dinwoodie said: "We've been involved in 3D printing for over 10 years and there is a lot of hype about it at the moment.

"This project is some years away from commercialisation but it is interesting that money is being pushed into it and we will continue to support the consortium and see what it develops into.

"For us 3D print revenue is a number of years away but it could well be a growth area. Like many of these advanced manufacturing applications that are emerging there isn't that much business for them at the moment but five to 10 years from now, who knows?"

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Traditionally a supplier of pre-media services to newspaper and magazine publishers, Express KCS said it was experiencing more demand from brand owners that wanted to work directly with the company rather than with agencies, as well as an increased demand for digital and video post-production work.

Marlborough has been recruited specifically to drive the business forward into these markets.

Before joining Hogarth Worldwide in January 2011, Marlborough, who specialises in developing corporate and creative client relationships, held a string of positions at global design and production agency Tag.

Express KCS chief executive Robert Berkeley said Marlborough's experience would enable the company to offer retailers and brand owners better value for money.

He added: "As brand owners look to make marketing spend work harder - reducing costs while maintaining brand integrity - we are seeing increased demand for our high-end creative and production expertise.

"Nick has first-hand understanding of marketing production and brand requirements coupled with experience of complex production workflows. He is widely respected among customers and will be a valuable addition to our team."

Marlborough said: "With Express KCS's wide range of creative services, their capacity, unique technology and the added benefit of providing efficient cost savings, I'm looking forward to bringing this new proposition to brand owners and retailers."

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Surely there were printers already offering these kinds of services?
In a way, although what we were doing back then was selling guaranteed savings to the customer. There were many printers making very healthy margins out of that activity and understandably they didn't want to make the harsh decision to cut back those margins to get a bigger slice of the action. There was also the fact that we had to invest millions of pounds in the software system that sat at the front and gave the customer all of the analysis they could want and also integrate with their infrastructure. Not to mention our major investments in warehousing and distribution, so there was an awful lot of investment to take us beyond the basic print model.

So what you're saying is that the industry at large wasn't ready back then to take that leap of faith that companies like Astron did?
It was massively outside of most printers' comfort zones. We were recruiting software engineers and grasping and taking a lot of things on faith, in that a lot of the people we were recruiting were out of our intellectual league as far as software design and development was concerned. In many ways it was the same challenges that print companies face today, with cross-media.

Do you think that there are lessons from the rise of print management that may be useful when it comes to printers embracing cross-media then?
Yes. What we were trying to do then was take systems innovation, alongside people innovation, alongside customer interface innovation. And it's the same today. It's about merging cultures and learning from each. It was a massive knowledge transfer.

So basically you practised the key management art of nicking other people's ideas.
Absolutely. And what it enabled us to do was gain the ‘emotional commitment' of our customers. That's what we had throughout the business and that's what made it work; if you can get your customers to buy in and really sell for you within their own organisations, then that's when you know you've got a really powerful model.

Was it as simple as that, just understanding your customers' businesses?
And getting that whole hierarchy of understanding them strategically, but also what the purchasing, marketing, logistics teams are trying to achieve and what their challenges are. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to over-gild it - we got it wrong sometimes.

You left Astron in 2002, three years before it was bought for $1bn by RR Donnelley. Where did you go?
I become chief executive of Fonebak, so I was out of the industry for five years. We started with nothing and then won the contracts to take back every mobile phone operator's returned mobile phones as they were swapped out. We then established it across Europe.

Not exactly a logical move, how did you get into that?
Not wishing to blow my own trumpet, but don't forget I had a pretty high profile by this stage. I was headhunted and as Gordon Shields, who is one of the UK's leading entrepreneurs, owned the company I didn't need asking twice. I've had the good fortune to work with some truly brilliant people.

But what happened to Fonebak?
We then did an MBO from Gordon Shields and then floated it and put it alongside Regenersis. The thing that was important for me was all that learning at Astron, was it repeatable - and yes it was.

Without wishing to sounds crass though, you've clearly done pretty well and money isn't really an issue. So what tempted you to take on the job at the BPIF?
Because I'm passionate about print and I'm passionate about training. Michael Johnson [former BPIF chief executive] asked me to present at a BPIF session and I said that the Federation had to be less flatfooted and start ‘going for it' and he was great, and said ‘if you think you've got a contribution to make, come and make it'. So Kay Smith, who was my operatons director at Astron, and I took on the training for two years and then I came in as chief executive in 2011.

So two years in, is the Fed ‘going for it'?
I think we've still got more to do and to some people the image is still about ‘yesterday', the number of people out there that still think our primary purpose is to do the annual pay negotiations is frightening. There haven't been any annual negotiations for four years. Now, we're about lobbying, for example.

Lobbying for what though?
Well, one thing is that it's important that we are seen as part of the creative industry and not a legacy manufacturing industry. You get a very different reception if you're seen as part of the creative sector.

Skipping back a bit though, you really didn't need to do this job and I get that you're incredibly passionate about print, but why take it on?
The potential to impact the industry. This industry has been great to me. It has given me a great career and given me a level of financial security. I don't want to sound like Mother Theresa - because I'm not. For me it has always been more about excitement than money and the graduate programme [which the BPIF won £1.1m of government funding for and launched last month with 250 delegates] was always my dream. It's about getting the excitement back into print. 20 years ago there wasn't really an internet, so people didn't buy on the internet, people didn't run their businesses on the internet - it is a totally different business model. I think there's a whole market there that we haven't addressed.

You mean in terms of potential customers?
Yes. It takes me back to my time at Fonebak; we started with sales of nothing and then went to £10m, £20m, £50m and £100m and not once did anyone call me about our print requirements. Also, print is cheaper today than it has ever been...

What do you mean by cheap?
I mean that it offers the highest level of return on investment it has ever offered. You can have an incredibly cheap email campaign, yes, but the ROI is nowhere. If you combine it with print though, it's incredible. There's a massively untapped market too when it comes to cross-media and it's a market that the agencies aren't ever going to be interested in...

You mean SMEs?
Absolutely. It's about selling cross-media to other SMEs. I think if we get that right then we can revitalise the industry. I almost want to do an Astron story for the whole industry, and key to that is about launching a big training programme and networking opportunity and getting those young managers, and industry stalwarts to learn from each other. And then I think we'll have a great story, and we won't just be bullshitting, we will be part of the creative industry, because we will be contributing to the success story of British SMEs.

But surely print is quite unusual in that it has one clearly dominant trade association, so you should be in a strong position to have meaningful impact on the sector?
I think we're in the position where we can make a real difference. We're on all the major seats, we have seats at the CBI, Intergraf, Manufacturer's Alliance, we're on a number of government strategy committees so we have a voice and we are heard, which many of the smaller federations aren't.

So what about merging with some of those smaller trade associations?

I think it would be a good idea in principle, but I think you would need a different industry figure than me to take the Fed down that path.

You're not thinking of leaving though?
Well, my two-year contract was up this month, but its been renewed as an open contract.

Do you mean that you are considering leaving then?
Not at all, there's no timescale in mind. But equally if I thought we'd found the perfect replacement then I would leave tomorrow. My dream was always that I would go and take on another challenge before I retire.

Do you mean that you've achieved what you wanted to with the Federation?
It's not necessarily that. I just think that there's probably someone better out there for the next stage of the BPIF's development: front-end marketing, which I don't think is in my skillset. I think we need someone who could look at how we get print into multimedia marketing. I think if we got the marketing director of a big brand for example, then I could see that sort of person being perfect.

But couldn't you just get that person on board to work with you?
But we couldn't afford them, unless they're chief executive.

Do you think how we ‘market' print is the biggest challenge facing the industry?
Of course not, but I think we have to engineer our image and that should be on our agendas at all times. But image has got to be backed up by something. I think if I'm honest its about skillsets. Companies need to be brave enough to take on software engineers, media engineers, data analysts and brave enough to make the investment in those skills. I'm not sure that everyone has got the money to make those investments though, so it will be about how they develop shared skill relationships through partnering with others.

Is that something that the Federation should be assisting with?
Yes, but we're still trying to work out what the skillsets are. The graduate training programme is a step in the right direction, but we can definitely do more. One of the things we have to talk a lot more about as an industry is the ROI of print. I'm on the board of Print Power and its hosting a website where printers can upload case studies of where print has had a real impact, because openly talking about ROI and other knowledge transfer information like that is critical to the industry's wellbeing.

Do you think the BPIF represents good value though?
Absolutely. But we need to get the message out that we're a federation for the industry - it's not just about individual members asking what they get for their £3,500 this year. We are hampered by the people that only want to have that discussion. I get that our members need to see ROI and every penny has to work, but they get a huge amount free and for what they get it's fantastic value.

What's been your proudest achievement?
The graduate scheme.

And outside of the BPIF?
Astron, definitely. But, if I could be greedy: the Astron story; the Fonebak story and getting the government to stump up £1.1m to fund the BPIF graduate training scheme.

Final question: you've spoken a lot about Astron, so I'm guessing that David Mitchell has had the biggest influence on you professionally?
What he taught me was that you can be a tiny little company and you shouldn't be afraid of the size of your dream. But actually, in a similar vein, it would probably be my Dad that's had the biggest influence. Before the War he worked as an apprentice at [British press manufacturer] Crabtree and when he was selected for service in the RAF he was standing in the rear gunners' queue and he looked over at the pilots' queue and he saw all these ‘nobs' in it and thought ‘I'm going in that queue'. He then became a pilot, DFC and Bar and went on to be one of the most senior directors at ICL. He taught me the lesson that you should always think big and don't think about where you're standing now, think about where your potential can take you.

KATHY WOODWARD CV

1980-1986 ICL where she became organisational development manager at the computing giant
1986-1989 British Newspaper Printing Corporation, development manager managing the cultural shift out of Fleet Street for the The Daily Mirror's print operations
1989-1996 BPC, development director helping the 50-plus companies to become one unified business
1996-2002 Astron, group operations director, from its early days and through its merger with Tactica Solutions
2002-2007 Chief Executive of telecoms start-up Fonebak, where she led an MBO in 2004 before taking it public in 2005
2007 Set up training provider Partnership Educations with Matthew Turner (a former non-executive director at Astron), acquired Management and Personnel Services
2009-2011 BPIF Training chair
June 2011 to date BPIF, chief executive

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PPS managing director Simon Bell said: "We are excited to join forces with InnerWorkings. I have no doubt that both companies will benefit greatly from each other's expertise, global contacts and worldwide manufacturing network.

"Although we will be operating under the InnerWorkings banner, I can assure clients it will be business as usual."

"PPS has a strong reputation for creating luxury packaging solutions," said InnerWorkings UK managing director Simon Dipple. "We look forward to integrating them into the InnerWorkings family."

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"We were looking for something that would improve the range of services we can offer. Previously we might have had to outsource some work, with the addition of the Arizona we can produce everything in house," said managing director Terry Veale.

Veale added that the company was initially only looking to secure funding for a 20% deposit from Finance Wales to complete a five-year lease on the Arizona, but the RDA offered to finance an outright purchase with a loan for a "six-figure sum".

"I wouldn't exactly describe it as a pain free process, but when you take into consideration the amount of money, I would like to think that if you're fully prepared with all the information then it's a fairly straightforward process. It's probably no worse than trying to get bank funding to be fair, and I don't think I would have got a 100% loan from a bank either," said Veale.

He added the whole process took around 10 weeks.

The Finance Wales funding came from the organisation's £150m Wales JEREMIE fund, which aims to encourage investment amongst Welsh micro and small businesses.

The Arizona 460XT features six ink channels, including white ink, and is capable of 21m/hr in production mode. It can handle rigid media up to 2,500x3,050mm and 50.8mm deep or rolls up to 2,190mm wide.

The Arizona is 1st Signs & Graphics first flatbed machine and prior to its installation six weeks ago the company would print estate agent boards on vinyl and then laminate them to the required substrate, whereas now they can print directly on to the boards.

Following the investment the £700,000 company is looking to recruit two more staff to its team of 17.

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