Biggs left the company last year and some months later resurfaced heading up his own finishing equipment firm, Encore.

Papers to be served by solicitors acting for Smyth-Horne allege that Encore obtained contracts with two former suppliers to Smyth-Horne against the terms of Biggs contract of employment.

Last November PrintWeek reported that MB, the German folding machine manufacturer, had asked Biggs to set up a new firm to continue their relationship (PrintWeek, 9 November 2001).

Chris Cooper, who took over as managing director of Smyth-Horne, said: "There were clauses in his contract stating he couldnt set up in competition for six months after leaving the company or take any of my staff."

But in a statement issued to PrintWeek, Biggs denied that there was any truth in the allegations: "I left Smyth-Horne in April and stayed out of the industry for six months. In November 2001 I set up Encore Print Machinery. We began selling MB folders in January of this year and at no time did we state that we had exclusivity for the products."

Story by Anna Clarke