The business offers a wide range of services to book and magazine publishers in the fields of print and paper procurement, supplier management, quality control, process re-engineering and training.

Beattie, who left NatMags in April, said that she intended to capitalise on her production skills and commercial experience to help publishing companies of all sizes, as well as printers.

She added: "When I left Natmags, so many people were adamant I should not leave the industry, and that I should put my knowledge and experience to good use in some way. So I decided to offer my expertise on an ad hoc basis.

"I think there is a real need for this sort of service, especially these days when companies are losing experienced people in senior production positions – and we all know that the devil's in the detail in production. I am really excited to be starting up my own business."

For more information visit www.alicebeattieconsultancy.co.uk.