Hyland joined the company at the beginning of the month after spending three years at pharmaceutical company Life Technologies as head of technical support and before that over 20 years at Johnson and Johnson in a number of operational roles.

API Foils managing director Will Oldham said: "Tom’s strong background in the pharmaceutical industry from a chemical engineering and product development base brings key competencies to our business.

"I look forward to Tom making a significant contribution to the execution of our growth and investment plans."

Hyland said that joining API Foils was "an easy decision to make".

"I know there are fantastic growth opportunities available for the company moving forward so I’m excited to be joining the Livingston team and look forward to working with them to provide outstanding service for our customers," he added.

The appointment comes after a recently settled dispute at API Foils which saw workers take industrial action over alleged changes to contractual terms and conditions.