Barber, who began his career as a printer in 1950 before turning to publishing 30 years later, was responsible for implementing many of the process efficiencies enjoyed by publishers today.

Debbie Read, who worked with Barber at IPC, said: "He was a workaholic, completely, but he treated work like a hobby. His saying was 'it's all just a game'.

"From a personal perspective, he acted as a mentor to me and taught me a lot, for which I'm very grateful."

Following his retirement in April 2001, Barber managed just three months away from the industry he loved before returning as a non-executive director of Wyndeham.

Described as "a very keen golfer", Barber was diagnosed with cancer in February, but was fortunately able to remain active up until late May, before passing away in the first week in June.

Among his many accomplishments during a print and publishing career that spanned more than half a century, was the introduction of the dedicated press at St Ives Caerphilly.

Read said: "When he was first manufacturing director it was a period when there were paper price rises similar to the climate today, so there was a big requirement to look at ways of reducing the manufacturing cost base.

"He was the one that came up with the idea of the dedicated press at St Ives Caerphilly and while that factory's since closed and some people might say that it didn't work, it did for a few years and many people are revisiting those sorts of ideas now."