Andrew Stark, group marketing manager at Communisis, said that Singh's departure was the result of an adjustment to the group sales structure "to underpin the next phase of strategic growth".

Stark said that he could not comment on specifics of the new structure or personnel but confirmed that Singh would not be directly replaced.

In an internal announcement about the change, Communisis praised Singh's contribution to the business over the past four years.

Singh, who has a formidable sales reputation - particularly in direct mail, returned for his second stint at Communisis in 2009, six years after leaving his role as sales director of Chorleys.

In between his two spells with Communisis, Singh spent eight months at Blackburns, before joining Howitt in March 2005, initially as strategic development director, then as managing director.

He was also recently appointed chairman of The Printing Charity's re-established Yorkshire Committee.

Singh's future plans are unknown and he was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.