Bannister, who was born on 7 August 1946, studied at the London College of Printing after leaving school and then spent his entire working life in print. He held various sales rep and management roles at companies including Unwin Brothers, Wyvern Typesetting and Halstan.

Bannister worked in the industry up until 2003, at which point he retired early after contracting MS. He spent his retirement raising money for The Samson Centre, his local MS centre in Guildford.

In December 2017, Bannister was then diagnosed with oesophageal cancer. He was nursed by his wife, Jo, until he passed away last Wednesday (17 January). He is also survived by his two sons, James (39) and Thomas (36), as well as a two-year-old grandson.

Jo, who was married to Bannister for 40 years last May, paid tribute to her husband: “Robin made his mark in the industry, a lot of people have called me to say he was very respected in the print world. A lot of people knew him and everybody I’ve spoken to said he was a lovely guy and a very gentle person.

“He loved his boys and his little grandson, he was very family-oriented. And he loved holidays in the sun. His favourite destination was Thailand – Thomas lives in Bangkok so we had a lot of holidays there.”

She added: “When he was able to, Robin used to play golf regularly at Bramley Golf Club and they chose The Samson Centre as their charity of the year. It’s not government funded so it needs funding all the time to keep it running.”

Bannister’s family have extended an open invitation to anyone who he worked with him in the printing industry to join family and friends for his funeral on Tuesday 6 February 2018 at Guildford Crematorium, New Pond Road, Godalming, GU7 3DB, and then afterwards at The Inn on the Lake, Ockford Road, Godalming, GU7 1RH.

Family flowers only but donations can be made to either Woking Hospice or The Samson Centre.