Bartlett will leave the group at the end of the month. Mike Young, project director of True North, steps up to become group operations director with an expanded brief that will see all manufacturing operations report to him as Mike Walmsley, currently Polestar's operations director for special products, is set to retire at the end of February.

Young (pictured) will take up his new responsibilities over the next few months as the Sheffield gravure plant comes on stream.

In a statement Hibbert said: "I would like to thank Mike Walmsley and Mike Bartlett for the significant contributions they have made to the development of Polestar over the last few years and I speak on behalf of the Group when I wish them well for the future. I am also delighted to welcome Mike Young to the board and I look forward to working with him across a wider platform, from where I am sure he will provide the experience and insight we want to continue the progress made by his predecessors."

It is Polestar's second key appointment within a week. Last Tuesday (11 January) the group confirmed that Southernprint's Stephen Clark would become the new managing director of the Sheffield facility.