Andrew Herbert stepped down from his role at Domino last year, following its £1bn acquisition by Japan’s Brother. He will join the Cambridge-headquartered inkjet manufacturer’s board next month.

Xaar chief executive Doug Edwards has brought in a number of new directors since he joined the business at the beginning of last year, including former HP executive Chris Morgan and 3D printing expert Professor Neil Hopkinson.

Edwards said that Herbert’s industry experience and background in M&A would be a valuable addition to the Xaar executive team “as we seek to grow Xaar both through internal development and external partnerships”.

Two months ago Edwards outlined ambitious plans to more than double the size of the Xaar business by 2020. He is looking at expanding its current inkjet activities, but Xaar also has a war chest of £70m to spend on acquisitions.

Xaar chairman Phil Lawler said Herbert’s skills complemented those of the £93.5m turnover group’s other board members: “Andrew's background of driving sustained growth will be of immense value in helping us realise our growth vision and achieve our full potential.”