The group has informed 35 employees that it plans to move the engraving operations at the Gaerwen plant to Wigan, leaving the Anglesey site to concentrate on the company's new Tecnobase plastic cylinder product. Tecnograv sales director David Ettie said the move was necessary for the company to be more competitive, but would mean some job losses.

"We are going through the consultation process at the moment, but we believe that the actual number [of redundancies] will be fewer than 20," said Ettie.

"Some will be given the option of moving to Wigan and elsewhere in the group - that's what we are discussing. We are certainly not blind to the personal issues involved, but this is a chance to expand employment opportunities in the future."

The Tecno Group has 230 employees operating from Milton Keynes, Leicester, Derby, Wigan and the Wirral. The transfer of personnel and equipment from Anglesey to Wigan will take place in the next few months.

The Tecnobase product involves a process of covering steel gravure cylinders with a plastic coating to the required diameter, which can then be copper-plated and etched as normal.

"I can't say too much as there are patents pending. Most gravure printers have inventories of cylinders that are obsolete - not conferred to repeat jobs. There's a huge potential cost saving," said Ettie.

Earlier this year Tecnograv's acquisition of its smaller Wigan-based rival, Tronic Gravure, made it by far the largest gravure engraver in the UK.

Story by John Davies