Lynch, who joined the finishing equipment manufacturer when it was called Schuler Sales and Service, has been in his current role since 1979 and is to leave at the end of July.

Kolbus UK managing director Robert Flather said that Lynch had been a "conscientious and loyal" member of the Kolbus team and had "always been willing to go that extra mile to help make things run smoothly for our customers".

Lynch said he is looking forward to "catching up with the house and the garden" and that the highlights of his career had been "meeting a lot of nice and interesting people".

He added that the biggest change he has seen during his career was the move into softcover book production machines in the 1980’s.