Curtis died at Southend University Hospital on Saturday 24 March after he developed septicaemia in his foot.

Curtis began his career as an apprentice at E.S. and A. Robinson, Bristol’s largest offset colour printer, while at the same time working towards his City and Guild diploma.

Curtis had an international career, being headhunted by American offset printing blanket manufacturer Reeves in Milan shortly after completing his Italian career with Societa Nebiolo, a worldwide offset printing press manufacturer, as head of after-sales training.

It was during his time with Reeves that Curtis began to make waves in the UK print industry. Reeves developed the first printing blanket with a compressible layer, a unique feature designed to tackle paper-feed issues on presses, known as the Vulcan 714.

The revolutionary product attracted the attention of the entire print industry, notably Ralph Davies, managing director of the press supplies side of printing ink manufacturer A. Gilby and Sons. Davies brought Curtis into the press supplies sales team, capitalising on his experience to promote Gilby's exclusive UK agency of the Vulcan 714.

Gilby’s was bought by Croda International where Curtis joined the newly formed Croda Graphics as an area salesman mainly in the East Anglia area. The job brought him, his wife and two sons to Wickford in Essex, and he settled in the south east of England, retiring in Leigh-on-Sea near Southend.

Bill Birch, former export sales manager at Frank Horsell and Charles Openshaw, and then Curtis' colleague at Croda Graphics, said: "Bob was always a diplomatic and straight-forward person and made many friends during his career. He was a fine person – highly trained and much respected in the litho printing industry.

"He was a convivial chap and extremely knowledgeable. He was a naturally skilled lithographic printer and responsible for the initial success of the Vulcan 714 in the UK.

"I knew him for 40 years, long before we were colleagues at Croda Graphics. Bob was a regular at all European trade shows, representing Nebiolo and then Reeves.

"I used to love going with Bob to sales conferences during our time at Croda Graphics. We were happy to stay in the hotel for the two nights and enjoy the best steak and wine and talk about all those years in the European market.

"He was a great guy to be around, didn't mince his words and knew his stuff when it came to blanket technology."