According to Unite, staff were informed on 20 May that Wyndeham planned to cut around 32 positions at the 96-staff site, as well as implementing a 10% pay cut for the remaining staff.

Unite national officer Steve Sibbald said: "It came as quite a shock because only a few weeks ago we were almost promised a wage increase.

"The workforce was told they had done well, fulfilled expectation and it was almost a done deal that they would be getting a wage increase.

"To be faced with the same pay cuts and job losses that the rest of the group is facing, we are not happy. Our members were told that regardless of what happened at each site, the group as a whole needed to make these cuts. You can imagine what this has done for the workforce morale."

Wyndeham chief executive Paul Utting confirmed that a 30-day consultation had begun with staff at the site last week, but said that he could not comment on the specifics of the consultation process.

Utting revealed that the consultation was necessitated by the falling demand from both the commercial and public sector.

"Demand is reduced across the board this year, whether it's web offset or sheetfed, and what we are doing is in response to the marketplace," he said.

However, Unite claimed that Wyndeham was "taking advantage" and that it did not need to make the cuts.

"It is another company taking advantage of the economic situation. They don’t really need the cuts. People haven’t got anywhere else to go, but I imagine in a few years when there are other options, people will leave in their droves," said Sibbald.

Meanwhile, Wyndeham is understood to be in the process of centralising parts of its finance function, resulting in the departure of Wyndeham Heron finance director Steve Goodacre.

The same process has resulted in Wyndeham Grange finance director Andrew Emmings being in consultation with regards to his position.