Carlton Barclay Group is looking to make acquisitions in the direct marketing sector after buying south-west London-based Litho-Tech Colour Printers to create a 20m-turnover printing group.

Litho-Tech specialises in the annual report, corporate identity and brochure sectors. It employs 60 staff and has sales of 7.3m, but has reported pre-tax losses of 272,000 and 341,000 for the past two years.

"We have been looking for a suitable acquisition for some time," said Carlton Barclay managing director Neil Watson. "The deal gets us straight to CTP and gives Litho-Tech access to our direct mail and personalisation services."

Litho-Tech operates a Screen PlateRite CTP system, but Carlton Barclay had not previously used CTP at its Basildon, Essex, plant.

Watson said there would be 25-30 redundancies once the move is complete, but it has not been confirmed which areas of the business would be affected.

"Litho-Tech will continue to sell services under its name, but it will operate within the Carlton Barclay group," added Watson.

Carlton Barclay specialises in direct mail production, employs 160 full-time and 50 part-time staff, and has a turnover of 12.4m. It was named Post-press Company of the Year at this years PrintWeek Awards and received a highly commended in the Direct Mail Printer of the Year category. It has won 35 awards over the last five years.

An extra 700m2 is being added to Carlton Barclays 5,500m2 purpose-built factory to house Litho-Techs equipment which includes eight- and 10-colour Heidelberg presses and to make space for another press that will be bought.

The move is scheduled for completion by early January.

Story by Andy Scott