Directors at Cambridge University Press, the oldest printing business in the world, spent nearly £330,000 on travel and entertaining in the same year as they laid off more than 50 staff.

The travel bills covered flights — a total of 209 for the seven directors in the past 12 months — and hotels, as well as meals for prospective clients.

Stephen Bourne, CUP’s chief executive, and six other directors spent £294,439 on travel and £33,911 on entertaining, according to figures released under the Freedom of Information Act.

Mr Bourne claimed £113,362 in travel expenses, covering 52 flights, and £9,210 in entertaining costs.

He has been on an 18-day trip to Malaysia, China, the Philippines and Australia, taking part in negotiations on an 18-book series on Chinese cultural history.

His biggest entertaining bill for last year was a meal for staff from a "chain of North American universities" for which the Press will provide English teaching materials for foreign students.

Union officials say staff made redundant would be "disgusted" by the figures.

Ann Field, national print officer for union Unite, said: "Management should lead by example when it comes to cost-cutting."

But the company said it was an international firm and its directors needed to travel to create new publishing business.

CUP, which had a turnover of £200 million last year, has cut its printing workforce by around 150 in the past two years.

Last year, the firm announced plans to axe 133 jobs from its printing division, plus up to 30 from other departments, provoking a protest march in Cambridge.

The plans were eventually scaled back, with 48 people in the printing division and eight in other departments made redundant.

Peter Davison, director of corporate affairs at CUP, said job losses and directors’ travel were a "separate issue".

He added: "This is not a UK business. Even though it happens to be headquartered and have half of its staff in the UK, five-sixths of the business is outside. We all have to travel."

The company was founded on a royal charter granted to the university by Henry VIII in 1534.

Its publications are aimed at markets worldwide, at all levels from primary school to postgraduate and professional.

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