The Polestar chief executive was variously described by Power 100 voters as "the most talented manager in the industry", "an exceptional motivator" and someone who has "balls of steel".

Hibbert's finalising of plans for a new gravure superplant in Sheffield was one of the key reasons for his securing of the number one slot again. And it also helped propel Hibbert's right-hand man Mike Bartlett up to number 14, having just sneaked in the list at 99 in 2003.

Communisis chief executive David Jones stepped up one place to take the number two position pushing St Ives managing director Brian Edwards down to number three.

Acquisitive print managers featured heavily among the highest climbers and highest new entries. Astron's David Mitchell (number 6) made the top 10 on the back of his buyout of several Hays BPO businesses and Edotech.

TripleArc's Jason Cromack made his debut in the list at 31 following his acquisition of Access Plus, and Dataform's Brad Holbrook came in at 79 after his firm bought CCS from Thomas Potts last year.

The rankings are decided by a panel made up of PrintWeek editorial staff and by an online reader vote at printweek.com. For the full list see today's PrintWeek or click here.

Story by Lauretta Roberts