Communisis to cut 75 jobs to combat the decline in direct mail volumes

The redundancies, announced yesterday, were said to be primarily in response to declining direct mail volumes, but the company said its other sites in Leeds and in Copley, Halifax would not be affected.

The Leeds-based company developed from the iconic Waddingtons packaging company – former maker of board-games such as Monopoly, Cluedo and Subbuteo – when it was taken over in 2000, and is now organised into three operating segments: Design, Produce and Deploy.

Over the first three months of 2014, Design acquired video and film production and digital creative capabilities by buying Jacaranda for £1.5m and Public Creative for £400,000.

Produce added inbound imaging and mail processing as a new service following a second long-term contract with Lloyds Banking Group for an initial ten-year term.

Deploy secured a contract extension with Procter & Gamble until the end of 2019. Andy Blundell, chief executive, said: “Communisis operates in fast-changing markets and each of our three segments faces different opportunities and challenges.

“We continue to invest in our growth strategy to build a comprehensive range of integrated services, whilst also taking any necessary action to adjust our production capability in more mature areas.

“Overall, our view on the outlook for 2014 remains unchanged.”