Thomson Litho, Scotland�s biggest surviving independent printing company, fell back into the red last year as lost work forced redundancies.

Thomson Litho, Scotland's biggest surviving independent printing company, fell back into the red last year as lost work forced redundancies.

Thomson, controlled by former Motherwell FC captain Matt Thomson and his four sons, offers typesetting, printing and binding services to the publishing, computer manufacturing, consumer electronics and software industries and a wide range of other businesses. Five years ago it set up a plant in the Czech Republic after its biggest customer Compaq had done the same.

After recording a £1.16m pre-tax profit in 2006, it plunged to a £1.67m loss in 2007.

However, the Lanarkshire firm last year completed the first phase of a major investment project that saw it buy four printing presses and a binding line, leaving it "well positioned to expand its operations by utilising the latest and most advanced printing equipment available", according to its latest accounts filed at Companies House.

Meanwhile, the profit and loss account was hit by redundancy costs of over £357,000 as the headcount was trimmed by 23 to 419.

Sales fell from £21.9m to £18.5m, and the group slumped from a £13m operating profit in 2006 to a £1.4m operating loss.

The controlling family shareholders, with all five Thomsons on the board, received a dividend of only £121,277 against the previous year's £759,502, and the highest paid director's salary dipped to £228,188 from £276,740.