MORE than 50 jobs could be lost at MPG Books in Bodmin after its premises shut and staff were told not to turn up for work.
Administrators from Zolfo Cooper are understood to be in talks with the firm, which shed 64 workers in Bodmin in December.
However, there has been no official confirmation that the firm has gone into administration, and repeated attempts by the Cornish Guardian to contact the company have been unsuccessful.
MPG, the UK's largest independent book and journal manufacturer, has plants in Bodmin, King's Lynn, and opened one in Cambridge following its takeover of the Cambridge University Press (CUP) printing operation last year, which resulted in a major restructuring of the group's manufacturing sites.
Up to 70 jobs are at risk at its plant in Cambridge.
An MPG employee from Bodmin who did not want to be named said: " We were told at 4.45pm last Wednesday not to turn up for work the next day. It has come as a total shock, particularly so soon after the redundancies last Christmas.
"I think everyone is devastated because we didn't see this coming at all."
Another former staff member said: "Obviously this is an extremely difficult situation for the employees and has a number of serious knock-on issues for Bodmin itself.
"It's also sad that a long- established company has gone to the wall directly due to its poor management."
Bodmin mayor Ken Stubbs said: "When MPG made all those people redundant in December, the company said it was a case of restructuring the business, and everything seemed OK for the remaining workforce.
"The closure is a sad day for Bodmin. It's come as something of a shock."
The takeover of the CUP printing operation, and the costs involved in relocating equipment and setting up a new MPG plant in Bar Hill, Cambridge, appear to have precipitated a cash crisis.
CUP operations director Sandra Waterhouse said in a statement issued on behalf of the publisher: "The management team of MPG today announced it is to go into administration. In July 2012 Cambridge University Press placed a large proportion of its UK printing with MPG Books Group. The agreement also saw the Press's in-house printing department, and most of the staff, transferred to MPG.
"This transfer was undertaken in good faith and, as well as allowing the publishing groups the flexibility they need, was seen as a way of securing continued employment for staff otherwise facing redundancy through the potential closure of the Press's printing operation."
She said CUP had offered "every support" to MPG.
The firm last filed results for the year to December 31, 2011, which exclude the major restructuring carried out over the past 18 months and show it had 238 employees and reported a pre-tax profit of £813,000 on sales of £19.4 million.
