Mitchell was voted into the top spot of the PrintWeek Power 100 2005 for pulling off the $1bn sale of his Huntingdon-based document BPO business to US print giant RR Donnelley, which was finalised last week.

He has edged Polestar chief executive Barry Hibbert, who has topped the survey for the past two years, into second position.

"It was a very close-run race between David and Barry," said PrintWeek editor Lauretta Roberts.

"I think what swung it in David's favour was that he's a true visionary and built Astron from nothing himself. On top of that the sale really helped raise the profile of the industry," Roberts added.

To commemorate Mitchell's achievement PrintWeek commissioned a specially made action figure doll, dubbed "Mitch Man", and presented it to him last week.

Meanwhile, PrintWeek would like to thank the St Bride Printing Library, in particular Caroline Archer and Nigel Roche, for staging this year's Power 100 photoshoot.

Click here to see the full Power 100.