Bell, who joined the business as sales director in 1989, acquired the company in 1995 from founder Antony Rowe in a management buy-out. He succeeded in growing the company’s turnover from £1m to £26m before it was acquired by the CPI group in 2005.

CPI’s chief executive Francois Golicheff said: "We thank Ralph for his significant contribution to the business and the industry, and we wish him a long and happy retirement.

"Ralph leaves us with a great legacy, at a time when we are investing in the latest inkjet press to take the business into the next phase of its development by moving into short-run, colour books."

CPI UK announced in March that it had invested in the UK’s first HP T350 high-speed web press, which is currently being installed at its Chippenham site, as part of its £22m three-year investment programme.

CPI has appointed Martin Collyer, currently CPI’s UK commercial manager, to take over as CPI UK head of digital. Martin will manage Antony Rowe Chippenham as general manager and will take responsibility for Antony Rowe Eastbourne and other digital projects and installations. Collyer will report to Ian Smith, CPI UK chief operating officer.