The firm was taken over by Waddington, which was itself acquired by John Mansfield Group (now Communisis) in 2000. Mitchell, 61, became chief operating officer, and was appointed group development director in July.

Communisis is also understood to have made changes to its middle management, although further details were unavailable as PrintWeek went to press. Centurion Press managing director of operations Caroline Smith, who made 2.61m when the firm was bought by Communisis earlier this year, has left.

Communisis has also appointed Mike Firth, formerly at HSBC, as a non-executive director.