Headcount has been reduced from 595 immediately after the merger to 525.

The move was made to ensure the enlarged business is profitable.

Tag chief executive Steve Parish (pictured) expects Tag sales to be 57m this year, of which the acquisitions contributed 17m.

"There needed to be consolidation because of the way the market has gone," said Parish.

He added: "This has been difficult, all the people that have left were good people."

Of the total redundancies 17 were voluntary. Among those were Vertis PRS directors Marcus Kirby and Andy Huntley. PRS chief executive Chris Clancey will stay on.

The firm has begun reducing its number of locations with staff moving out of the Admagic "green building" on Beak Street and half the staff at the Eversholt Street Offices of PRS all relocating to Tag's Clerkenwell Road site. In the short term the catalogue and magazine departments will remain in Eversholt Street.

For the rest for the year the firm will focus on identifying and adopting the best practice and technology from all the old firms and re-invigorating the business.