Richard Griffiths is a former sheep farmer and rugby player who found fame and fortune in the City after founding finance house Evolution Group PLC.

He went on to found Ora Capital Partners, and currently controls a number of funds.

Over the summer Griffiths upped his stake in Communisis, via seven separate investment vehicles, to 47,443,061 shares, or 22.66% of the group.

Communisis chief executive Andy Blundell told PrintWeek that the group’s board had a good relationship with Griffiths.

“Richard has been a shareholder for years and we know him very well. He controls his own funds and has recently topped up his holding,” Blundell said.

“He’s supportive of the business, knows us and our strategy well, and we’re glad to have him on board.”

A representative of Griffiths declined to comment, and said: “We don’t generally provide comment on our investment motivations.”

Other major Communisis shareholders at the group’s last financial year-end included Henderson Group (9.99% stake) and Majedie Asset Management (5.13%).

Shares in Communisis hit a 52-week high of 61p earlier this month. The £361.9m turnover group currently has a market capitalisation of £124m, higher than that of St Ives, at £100m.

Communisis confirmed that it had won the HSBC marcomms contract previously handled by St Ives alongside its interim results in August.