The Essex-based web-to-print specialist was crowned Printweek Company of the Year two months ago.

Kilcoyne is a well-known industry figure and previously worked at Bluetree Group for 14 years.

She left Bluetree last month after it restructured its Kingsbury Press operation, where she had been deputy general manager.

Kilcoyne took up the newly created role of sales and customer success director at Solopress on Wednesday (8 May), reporting to managing director Simon Cooper.

He described Kilcoyne as “an absolutely perfect fit” for the business.

“We were really keen to get Sarah on board, and we also realised the level of interest in getting her services on board from various other organisations was pretty high,” he said.

“We spent a lot of time laying the groundwork around the culture of the business, the openness, the mindset around leadership that I have – which is all about trust and autonomy.”

Cooper said that the Solopress’ reputation had “completely changed”, and this was benefiting the firm when it came to both sales and recruitment, with the firm making key appointments from rivals including Saxoprint, Helloprint, WTTB and now Bluetree.

“I think it speaks to the great strides Solopress has made in terms of brand status, production capacity and corporate culture that we’re able to attract top talent like Sarah from within our industry,” he added.

Kilcoyne’s responsibilities span sales and customer experience, including customer acquisition, retention and support; and developing its Solopro account management service.

She has been at the firm’s Southend-on-Sea facility this week meeting team members and familiarising herself with the business.

Kilcoyne told Printweek: “It’s been an overwhelming few weeks, but the past couple of days have reaffirmed what I thought – Solopress are really nailing it and it’s great to be part of something positive.”

She said she was excited to be part of the next stage of growth at the business, which is owned by Germany’s Onlineprinters Group.

Solopress had sales of £35.5m last year and employs 230 people.

Head of business development Phil Foster, head of commercial development Paul O’Connor, and head of customer engagement Tony Neagen will now report into Kilcoyne.

“This will really help because I’ve been fairly stretched as I’ve spending a lot of time in Germany working on group projects,” Cooper explained.

“Sarah is the perfect person to take that on and help them all be more successful in their roles.”

Kilcoyne added that one immediate task will involve her new business cards: “I want to place my own order and follow the customer journey,” she said.

Solopress celebrates 25 years in business this year.

Cooper said the company was continuing to grow sales and, importantly profits, and had further ambitious growth plans for 2024.