In a brief statement released yesterday, the board of Haynes revealed that an offer had been received for the division, which employs around 45 staff.

JF Print Limited is a company understood to be headed up by Peter Leach, formerly UK sales director of Spanish book printer Mateu.

Its previous name was Mateu UK Limited. According to Companies House, the name was changed yesterday. It is not clear at this stage if Mateu is involved in the bid in any form.

Haynes said: "Discussions with JF Print are ongoing and at this point in time the board feels it is inappropriate to speculate on the final outcome of these discussions."

Yeovil-based Haynes, which recorded a pre-tax profit of £7.1m on a turnover of £31.1m for the year ending 31 May 2008, currently has two print facilities – one in the UK and one in the US.

According to its latest accounts, gross margins at its UK print site have been hit by a higher mix of low margin external print services.

Peter Leach, who also owns Wiltshire-based JFDi Print Services, could not be reached for comment.