"He comes to us from being president of Heidelberg France and he's worked for KBA, so we've definitely got a big hitter," said Mitsubishi UK sales director Mick Carr.

"This is a job where I can bring in all my experience," said Doliwa. "This could be the challenge of my life to bring up this brand in Europe."

Doliwa has already started, and his immediate plans are to talk to the firm's customer base, and then look at strengthening the team.

"We have sales levels of one or two machines a month, the main driving force at the moment is to stabilise, communicate and build up the image," said Doliwa. "When these steps have been taken we can talk about growth of the company."

He plans to work closely with Mitsubishi Europe to develop the brand. Acting UK managing director Yoji Nishihara has become UK senior executive director with financial, HR and administration duties.