A total of 80 guests attended the event, including customers, suppliers, partners, staff and former colleagues, in order to celebrate the milestones of the two operations.

Founder and joint managing director Bob Usher outlined its evolution, which started with servicing Itek platemakers and Ryobi portrait presses in 1989.

Over the intervening years, it evolved into a sales and service business, pioneered digital pre-press and CTP in the 1990s by selling the Purup Eskofot (now ECRM) DPX polyester platesetter, and then moved into press sales at the beginning of this decade by taking on the agency for Ryobi following the demise of Ry-Offset.

He also discussed how the company fought through adversity in December 2005 when its new premises were damaged by the Buncefield oil depot blast.

Usher, along with joint managing director Bernard Parker, co-founder and technical director Terry Bratt and sales and marketing director Neil Handforth, were presented with a framed red image of Mount Fuji, which is a symbol of good luck in Japanese culture, by Ryobi international sales manager Kohei Yatsumoto.

Picon chairman Roy Caslon led a toast to the success of the group.

Apex is following its 20th anniversary lunch with two days of open houses, where it is launching the Ryobi 525GE - a five-colour version of its compact B3 press, as well as showing a range of Ryobi presses and ECRM and Screen CTPs.