A PRINTING firm is to cease production in Colchester after it was bought by a Lincolnshire company.

The brand and assets of Wyncolls Road-based Printmatrix have been purchased by Ruddocks Print & Design in Lincoln.

Four Printmatrix staff will be kept on to maintain relations with existing customers, but two will be made redundant.

The company, which has been trading for 30 years, is a specialist in digital printing and also provides design services.

Ruddocks managing director Paul Banton said, from customers’ point of view, the transition would be smooth.

He said: “It is absolutely fantastic news. Printmatrix is a well-respected and established name in the South East and, although the actual printing operation will be moved to Lincoln, it will be business as usual.

“Existing customers can expect the same high level of service and quality of products they came to expect from Printmatrix.

“This is an ideal opportunity to strengthen the Ruddocks brand in the South East and is a natural progression following our recent investment in improving our systems.”

Colchester has a proud history in the printing business, but the industry has been in decline in recent years.

Ninety jobs were lost in 2007 when Benham Goodhead Print closed down its Colchester plant in 2007.

A year earlier, the firm had been forced to axe 200 Colchester posts when it lost a contract to print telephone directories.

Ruddocks Print and Design is a national printer with a 126-year history and offers a wider range of services than Printmatrix.