Ward, who will take over on 1 May, has worked at CUP for more than 25 years, and has been a member of the printing division's executive board since 1994.

Ward, who has been running the book printing division for the past year, played down the influence her appointment would have. "It'll be business as usual. I'm hoping that, from the staff's point of view, they won't see very much of a change," she said.

It was announced last week that Willett was leaving CUP to become managing director at Biddles, the print division of W&G Baird (PrintWeek, 22 April).

Willett will start at Biddles on 4 May and replaces previous managing director Christian Testorf.