Sutton joined the Japanese press manufacturer in 1996 as southern area sales manager.
His responsibilities steadily increased, including heading sheetfed sales for the UK, Ireland and South Africa.
In 2004 he became UK managing director when previous incumbent Martin Rickards moved to a European role, and then when Rickards retired in 2018 Sutton became COO of Komori’s European business.
Sutton’s career has spanned a period of huge technological change in print, as well as major world events and economic turbulence that have impacted the industry including the financial crisis and the pandemic.
He said he was proud that Komori had been able to reinvent itself and add new solutions beyond litho presses, including post-press equipment, consumables and supplies, and digital presses.
Sutton with the Komori Europe team at its Utrecht facility
Komori praised Sutton for his analytical, and pragmatic approach coupled with his sales and business management acumen.
“High on the list of Neil’s many achievements for European HQ is the centralisation and strengthening of European sales strategy, technical, training and demonstration facilities – all combining to ensure that distributors and subsidiaries are now capitalising on the company’s growing product portfolio,” the firm said.
Komori UK managing director Steve Turner also paid tribute to his long-standing colleague and said: “I’ve known Neil for something like 20 years. He’s been a first class boss, mentor and friend and has made a huge contribution to the success of Komori both in the UK and across the European region.
“We’ll miss him greatly, and we wish him a long and happy retirement.”
Sutton told Printweek that he was “very surprised and humbled, and very pleased” to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented by Komori executives Ken Sagawa (former Komori Europe president and now head of its overseas sales group) and current Komori Europe president Eiji Kajita.
Of his varied career, Sutton said: “It’s kept it interesting and fun – there has always been a new challenge.
“When I look back at the Drupa and Ipex shows of the late 1990s and early 2000s – my god the attendance! The next Drupa will be an interesting test of the market.”
Sutton retires at the end of the month. He said that, after commuting to the Netherlands on weekly basis he was looking forward to having more time for his sporting passions of football and cricket, and quipped that one thing he wouldn’t miss would be 3am starts on Monday mornings.
His role will not be directly replaced. Instead, two existing managers will have their roles expanded: Ulrich Sause becomes chief commercial officer, while Richard Gilbertson becomes chief service officer with both joining the board of directors alongside CFO Erik Achterkamp and Kajita.
