Granite, who is a former distressed debt trader with Deutsche Bank, was appointed before Christmas and, since then, the company has conducted a wide-ranging restructure of its businesses.

This has included 10 of White Horse’s 28 UK staff being made redundant in the first week of 2010, as well as the closure of the secondhand equipment dealer’s French sister company CCI, with its stock being returned to the UK.

Commenting on the closure of CCI, Robin Vauvelle, managing director of White Horse Machinery, claimed that the French market was tougher than the UK.

He said: "In France, the local market is worse than the UK. It is not worth being in a market that loses money every year."

Vauvelle added that, following the restructure, White Horse Machinery was looking forward to a stronger performance in 2010. "We are down to a manageable size now and that will take us forward," he said.

"It is good to see the UK market coming back. We have had a good first quarter and business is buoyant at the moment – we are in the process of installing three machines in the UK.

Vauvelle added that, although Granite is helping to reorganise the £24m-turnover business, he has not invested any money in White Horse Machinery.