Thomas joined the company as sales manager for the Southeast last month. Bringing 30 years of experience with him, his most recent role was as national sales and trade development manager for WRH Marketing UK.

He was formerly sheetfed sales manager for Manroland’s Midlands team and trained at the London College of Printing.

Thomas said: "When I saw the extent of the customer support infrastructure that’s been put in place here in the UK, I knew that I could be part of a major change in the printing industry in this country. 

"I was staggered by the performance of the latest presses on demonstration; the more I learn about the technologies and the performance, the more enthused I become."

His new role bolsters other additions to KBA UK’s sheetfed sales team this year: Tony Bennett joined the company as area sales manager for the Midlands, Northwest and Wales and Chris Scully succeeded Mark Nixon as sales director at the turn of the year following Nixon’s departure shortly before Drupa.

Scully said: "We know from our conversations with many of the country’s leading printers this year that KBA’s technologies shown at Drupa are just too good to be discounted; the impact they make on production performance and the bottom line could be a crucial factor in any operation’s competiveness. 

"And because every KBA press is built to the exact specifications of the user, it is essential that we have knowledgeable sales managers with a full appreciation of all the variables involved in the production process and the print marketplace in general. James has those qualities and we are delighted to welcome him to the team."

This week KBA announced a 1.6% year-on-year increase in group sheetfed sales although orders were down almost 20%.