The deal is worth £12 million, with acquisition finance and working capital provided by Five Arrows Commercial Finance, part of NM Rothschild Group.

Paul is joined on the board by managing director Keith Chapman, sales and marketing director Janey Hunter and operations director Paul Egan.

Fife-based Curtis was sold by retiring directors Allan Milne, who led the original buy-out in 2002, and founding shareholder Bill Whyte. The company’s turnover for 2005 was £31 million, with about a third of its production sold outside the UK.

Manchester-based Five Arrows specialises in asset-based lending, invoice discounting and factoring.