Button's role has been filled by Geoff Hobbin, who joined from Danka UK.
"We are not leaving commercial print," said Hobbin. "I was taken on by Canon because of my passion for this industry."
The firm has cut the number of print specialists from 21 under Button to seven, who are headed up by business development manager for the print sector Michael Freeman.
These specialists will support the firm's more general sales staff.
Canon has been holding quarterly forums with print customers including BAPC members over the past year to work on ideas to generate new business.
"I want to feed customers' machines," said Hobbin. "We both make money through clicks."
In the past year Canon’s commercial print business has grown 37% with equipment sales of £7m.
Over the next six months Hobbin promises further developments in the commercial sector. He identified its main opportunities as being with high-street printers encroaching on traditional print with digital and conventional printers moving to digital to fight back.
One likely development will be the UK availability of the Imagerunner 150, Canon’s OEM version of Heidelberg's Digimaster 9150 monochrome 150ppm cut-sheet digital printer.
The firm may also appoint further dealers to target the graphic arts market. Canon is pleased with the relationship with Duplo.
"It has a significant customer base that doesn't take Canon products at the moment," said Hobbin.
Story by Barney Cox
Pictured: Hobbin – filling Button's role
