CLOSE to 200 jobs have been lost at a Bradford printing company as it ceased trading yesterday after calling in the administrators.

A last-ditch re-financing deal had been set up to try to save Global Media Production, based in Battye Street, Laisterdyke, but the move collapsed late on Monday.

Staff said they were then told not to come into work, and informed that wages, which were due last Thursday and then promised for yesterday, would not be paid.

A number of staff did turn up at the company yesterday where they stood outside its reception area in protest at their wages remaining unpaid.

They said they had been told the company was due to enter administration, and that any outstanding wages, notice period and holiday pay would have to be claimed back through then Government.

A spokesman for the firm later confirmed the business was going into an administration process that would affect "all staff," with the administrators, chartered accountants Baker Tilly, due on site yesterday.

Global MP was formed in November last year via the re-naming of St Ives Direct Bradford Ltd, which investment group Cogent B2B, headed up by Kevin Dunstall, bought in an £8 million deal last September.

Mr Dunstall failed to respond to requests for a comment from the Telegraph & Argus yesterday, but a Global MP spokesman said: "The owner has done everything he possibly could to re-finance this business, but ultimately at the 11th hour it proved unsuccessful.

"He had no choice but to put the business into administration.

"Finance did appear to be in place right up until Monday lunchtime, but something happened and the deal fell through.

"The whole point of the re-financing was to pay staff's wages, and the primary motivation was to make sure they got paid.

"The management team are very upset it has come to this."

One staff member, who did not want to be named, said: "We were told last week that there would have to be cuts, but now there is no hope.

"People are angry, because essentially they've been working for free. It's been a maddening experience."

Another worker said: "No-one really knows what is going on, but we think everyone will be made redundant.

"We haven't been paid, so it was kind of half-expected. We all knew there was something going on, as we were told not to come into work last night and today.

"It's not good, there's not many print jobs out there, so it's going to be tough."

Some staff said the re-financing deal had fallen through due to printing presses used, but not owned, by the firm being sold to a different company.

Close Brothers Asset Finance owns the equipment in question, but the group declined to comment on the situation.

Chris Ratten, one of the joint administrators at Baker Tilly, confirmed Global MP had now ceased to trade, but suggested a lower number of staff, 150, had been made redundant.

"The cash flow issues at the company were such that administration was the only option to protect the remaining assets for the benefit of creditors," Mr Ratten said.

"Regrettably we have had to make a number of people redundant, and our specialist employee team will be assisting them to make the relevant claims with the Redundancy Payments Service."