"His knowledge and skill set will be an excellent addition to our team," said Apex joint managing director Bernard Parker. "The added bonus for us is that this is all happening just prior to Ipex."

Carr joined the the UK distributor of Ryobi presses two weeks ago,  he was formerly sales director at Mitsubishi Lithographic Presses UK.

"It was never my plan to retire at 60," said Carr. "So I'm delighted about this opportunity and I'm going to work hard to make a success of it."

According to Carr, he had a number of job offers, but once Hemel-Hempstead-based Apex expressed an interest, the decision was made.

"I had been very impressed with the introduction of the B2 format Ryobi 750 series... the management team here is also very impressive."