He had been unwell for some time and died on 5 March.

Shuttleworth was described as a “pioneer in the field of MIS” by Andy King, the former joint managing director of the company who worked with him for nearly 30 years.

“When Stuart started Shuttleworth Business Systems nearly 40 years ago he had already acquired a great deal of knowledge about systems and how computers could make businesses more efficient,” King said.

“He initially knew very little about print but through some good fortune and a lot of hard work he gained the appropriate knowledge and created one of the first management systems for the printing industry.”

Initially the system covered estimating and job costing.

“With Stuart’s lead the design of these systems were the answer to many printers’ prayers,” King stated.

After initial success in the early 1980s the MIS market really started to take off after the Ipex exhibition in 1984, and the Kettering-based business continued to grow. In 1992 the firm introduced one of the earliest ‘Graphical Production Scheduling Systems’.

King said Shuttleworth had inspired the creation of this module thanks to his enduring ability to understand customers’ needs and how best to meet them.

“By the mid 1990s Stuart’s role became more of a coach and guiding hand to the next generation who were building a business that eventually had hundreds of customers and thousands of daily users in the UK, Europe, Africa, Sri Lanka and India,” King added.

“He was never afraid to back an initiative knowing full well that some would reap rewards whilst others might not. Fortunately more succeeded than failed!

“One of Stuart’s greatest assets was his ability to inspire loyalty from his friends, his clients and particularly his team at Shuttleworth. In his later life his health prevented him from seeing as much as he would have liked of everybody but I know that he was always grateful for their friendship and support and acknowledges that he couldn’t have achieved as much a she did in his life without them.”

Shuttleworth was still chairman of the company when the business was sold to industry giant EFI in November 2015.

He is survived by his three daughters and five grandchildren whom he greatly adored.

The funeral will take place on Thursday 26 March and will be a private service due to the coronavirus situation. The intention is to hold a celebration of his life at a later date.