Guy's is one of three former Manroland employees to join KBA, with consumables expert Andrew Patrick joining the business as technical consumables sales manager last month.

In his new position, Guy will lead a team of technicians and backroom staff and will offer a range of UK-wide support to customers ranging from spare part supply to upgrades.

He said: "When it comes to systems and equipment that are core to your business activity there is no room for uncertainty.

"This unit has been put together to deliver the first class, cost-efficient support network that my contacts in the industry expect and deserve."

Earlier this month Manroland Sheetfed described KBA's decision to offer servicing to Manroland customers as "opportunistic" and "not the behaviour of a world-class company".

It said: "KBA have no in-depth knowledge of our systems, no access to genuine spare parts and no access to our technical experts here in Germany when they need it.

"This is not the behaviour of a world-class company and we think that the majority of our customers will recognise this move by KBA for what it is - opportunistic."