The Washington, Tyne and Wear-based company, which serves customers in the travel, horticulture, coatings, gambling and entertainment industries, first took on Kevin Wills as finance director in June.

Wills started his career with public transport provider Go-Ahead Group and has since worked in a wide range of industries. Simpson Group marks his second spell in print – he previously worked as finance director at Edwardthompson for six years.

In his new role, Wills will lead on the financial running of Simpson Group alongside commercial, strategic and operations management.

He will also help to support and guide the new management team – established earlier this year following a management buyout deal – through the running of the circa-£12m turnover business with more than 100 staff.

Previous finance director John Quinn stayed on for a period following the MBO to lead the new management team through a period of transition, before exiting the business in July.

“I was working in print when the global recession hit in 2007/2008 which had a massive impact on the print industry – one of the industries most affected by the crash,” said Wills.

“A large overcapacity at the time saw many printers go out of business and whilst the situation is now much better, it is still a highly competitive industry.”

He added: “Successful print companies are ones that can innovate and at Simpson Group we have a world-class new product development team that can really help our customers’ point-of-sale and point-of-purchase products stand out from the crowd. It’s an exciting time to be a part of the business.”

Dale Havens and Nigel Lawton have both joined in the past few weeks as business developers and will be tasked with growing and developing relationships with both existing and new accounts.

Finally, Adam McNall rejoined the company in August on a new apprenticeship scheme as a trainee regulatory compliance officer, following a year at London North East Railway. He will learn how to contribute to and control the regulatory climate of a business in his new role.

Simpson Group commercial director Mark Jerrard said: “We are really pleased to welcome Kevin, Dale and Nigel to the team along with their existing knowledge and experience in the print industry.

“It’s also great to see Adam return to Simpson Group on a new apprenticeship scheme, which will ultimately result in him gaining a formal qualification.

“We’ve had a strong year this year and have our sights set on further growth for 2019. The expansion of the business development team and Kevin’s role as finance director will ensure that we are in the best possible position to meet those goals.”

Simpson Group has recently installed an Inca Onset X3 flatbed with robotic arm from Fujifilm at its 7,000sqm Washington base, after shaking hands on the deal at Fespa in Berlin in May. The business also has a satellite southern operation in Langley.