Garnham had most recently been working at quality management software business MasterControl.
Prior to that he had a long and storied career in the printing and pre-press industry, having started out in print with a five-year hot metal apprenticeship at Clays of Bungay.
Garnham then went on to work at the newly established Micropress, Pages Bros, and HMSO in Norwich before taking his expertise to the supplier side when he joined Xenotron, at the time a new tech start-up in Diss.
Former Centurfax co-owner and sales director Martyn Elmy was a lifelong friend, having first met Garnham at school.
He paid tribute and described Garnham as “a cheeky chap, but sharp as a knife”.
Elmy reminisced that in the early days of Xenotron, the founders realised that computer programmers “spoke a different language to the operators of the workstations that their customers employed".
“So they brought in the brightest and best from Clays and William Clowes (now CPI Beccles) with the added benefit of them all being current members of the NGA, which was a door opener at so many printers and publishers.”
He added: “The first application engineer suggested his mate join, Andy joined about a year later, I joined in 1982 after another year. We had the best workstation in the world, every newspaper in the world wanted our ad makeup and our team of ex-hot metal comps were the A-team.
“As we expanded around the world the pioneer corp went and established local offices, one of the boys from Clowes went to US, one went to Australia, Andy went to Germany spending months establishing the equipment at the WAZ group in Essen.”
Garnham left for pastures new when German firm Dr Hell took over Xenotron.
He went on to work at Hell and Manroland agent PPS, and was regional business manager and then sales director at Creo during the Canadian firm’s heyday of 1994-2001.
Writing on a tribute page, former colleague Philippe Duviquet said: “I was shocked when I heard of his passing. We were part of the small team that made Creo Europe a great success. Andrew was a fighter. At times we were colleagues, then I became his boss, then we were again together at Kodak.
“We worked together on so many deals and fought so many wars externally and internally! Creo was a unique company with a unique team spirit and philosophy and I am proud to have been part of it together with Andrew and our team at the time. All my condolences to his loved ones.”
After his time at Creo Garnham co-founded Gap Systems, specialising in workflow, DAM and SaaS. He sold his stake to his business partner after nearly nine years.
Garnham subsequently held senior business development roles at Kodak, Esko and PAS Media before joining MasterControl in 2018.
“We never worked together again, but we had the sort of friendship where you just pick up where you left off in a bar in the Altstadt three, six or nine months earlier. The industry has lost one of its smartest salesmen, but on many occasions promoted lesser people to top jobs,” Elmy (pictured below second from right with Garnham, far left, and friends) added.
“Andy was my go-to partner for soul and soft-rock gigs, I have a bunch of cancelled tickets in my inbox for 2020 shows, I miss him already but when those gigs return in 2021, then it will really hit home.”
Garnham is survived by his wife Natalie and their two children, Chloe and Alex.
A private funeral will be held on 3 September.
Donations to the Marie Curie charity can be made in his memory via the tribute page.
