Bunker had worked at Close Brothers for 26 years. He had been assistant managing director at the financier for the past three-and-a-half years, and prior to that spent more than 20 years as business development director, working on many printing industry investment projects and M&A deals.

Close Brothers is the largest supplier of finance to the printing industry. 

On his LinkedIn profile, Bunker said: “I would like to thank all of my colleagues and stakeholders who have supported me over the last 26 years and thank everyone for the wishes of good luck with my new venture.

“I’m enormously proud to have worked for such an amazing business. Close Brothers are a market- leading bank and I look forward to working with them in the very near future.”

One industry source commented: "This is a very significant departure in terms of Close's profile in the industry. Over the past 26 years he's probably been one of the most significant characters in the trade. It will be very interesting to see what he does next."

PrintWeek was unable to reach Bunker for comment about his new venture at the time of writing. He is on gardening leave until 1 April.

Close Brothers has not yet commented on whether Bunker will be replaced at the business.