The headquarters will be centred in the company's Leeds showroom facility, which will also operate as a spare parts distribution centre and will include Litho Supplies equipment.

Litho Supplies group sales director Eddie Williams said: "It's an indication of how the market is changing. It means manufacturers can concentrate on what they're good at: R&D and making presses."

He said the Leeds showroom "will essentially look a lot like a Litho Supplies showroom," with the "full range of pressroom products, including plates, CTP, chemical, blankets, the full lot, including folding and stitching, and Perfector guillotines."

Williams added that the new arrangment is the result of several months of discussions and that Litho Supplies would begin handling sales, customer support and marketing for Mitsubishi sheetfed presses from August. The day to day operations will be run by its GAE division under joint managing director Bryan Godwyn.

Williams said he did not expect the deal to have any material affect on the group's revenues until 2010, with Ipex expected to be a cornerstone for an upswing in sales.

Litho Supplies is not paying any consideration for taking over the business, nor is it taking on any financial liabilities or buy backs from Mitsubishi UK. Existing used stock is now part of Mitsubishi's European operation, although Litho Supplies will still sell this into the UK.

Williams said that new sales will not be offered with Mitsubishi's existing buy back schemes.

Litho Supplies also sells presses from rival Shinohara, although Williams said that the brands would be sold separately, with the Shinohara team at GAE in the south.

The company will also take on Mitsubishi engineers, sales and demonstrators, although final numbers are not yet known.