THE outgoing chairman of Macfarlane Group believes he is leaving a business which has rebuilt its reputation and regained the confidence of its customers and employees.

Archie Hunter stepped down following the company's annual meeting in Glasgow yesterday by praising the efforts of chief executive Peter Atkinson and other directors.

Mr Hunter confirmed he will remain as a board member of the Edinburgh US Tracker Trust and as an adviser to some private businesses and charities but has no plans to do anything on a "bigger scale" again.

The respected accountant said the near demise of Royal Bank of Scotland, where he was a non-executive director between 2004 and 2010, caused him a great deal of sadness and was the lowest point of a distinguished career.

He said: "I have a fervent hope that all the work that has been done since to establish a strong institution based in Scotland will be successful."

Outside of Macfarlane Group he said his work in reforming the partnership structure at KPMG was one of the highlights of his career.

Mr Hunter is confident Macfarlane, where Graeme Bissett takes over as chairman, has bright prospects. He said: "Macfarlane Group has a very good platform and the right agenda for the coming years."

First-quarter revenues in packaging distribution are ahea by 2% with profits above 2011 levels. In the manufacturing arm revenue is down around 2% but margins and profits are ahead of the previous year.

Mr Hunter has been with the company since 1998 and became chairman in 2003.

At that point the business had suffered multimillion-pound losses, its share price had dived, then chief executive Iain Duffin left and Mr Atkinson was brought in.

Mr Hunter said: "It was a difficult situation. We needed to apply ourselves to get out of that situation and start rebuilding the company and its standing again.

"It was no easy task. Peter and his team have stuck steadfastly to a programme of step-by-step profit improvement over a time.

"There is nothing dull or unfashionable about producing the results they have. To try to have done something more ambitious could have been disastrous in that period. There is no doubt that Macfarlane has re-established its standing in the marketplace in that time.

"The calibre of individual we are now able to attract and the standing it gives the group in the market place is a major step ahead of where it was when I became chairman.

"Fundamentally it has been Peter's ability to deliver to get us out of difficulty and through some very tricky economic times which has resulted in the strength of the company we see today."

Incoming chairman Mr Bissett praised Mr Hunter's "calm and methodical" methods and said: "Archie has set very high standards when it comes to managing the board."

Mr Atkinson outlined plans to grow the retail packaging business into one with £10 million of revenue and said the re-sealable labels division was expected to deliver further strong sales in the US.

He added medium-term plans for Macfarlane to become a £200m business with £10m profits are "not just ambitious but realisable".