The Solihull company says that the recruitment drive will allow the existing account directors to concentrate on implementation and strategic planning.

The addition of seven new recruits, including two account directors and five account managers, has increased the team's headcount to 16.

Andrew Berry and Nick Rose, who both have backgrounds in commercial print and direct marketing, have joined as account directors.

Victoria Benjamin, Leanda Phillips, Rob Stewart, Andrew Grainger and Heidi Atkins all join as account managers, from marketing, print management and advertising backgrounds.

Etrinsic group sales director Michael Howard said that the account manager role had "evolved" as a result of the changing nature of the print business.

"The perception now is that a good product delivered on time is a given. The customer only believes he's receiving added value by the quality of the transaction and the services he's receiving. It's the way ahead," he said.

"What takes us a little step above the competition is increasing our service levels and providing a concise and proper colour management programme to each client," said Howard.

He added that the new account managers would be spread around the country, so they are able "to manage the companies correctly and at the service levels that I'd expect".

Etrinsic, which has a turnover of 24m, counts Topps Tiles, Sainsbury's, Superdrug, Halfords, the National Express Group and Telewest among its major customers.

Story by Josh Brooks