Owen will manage both roles simultaneously in the interim - at least through to the middle of the year, when he said Kodak would update its strategy.

He confirmed his assignment was a "one-off circumstance" as his skills as a senior executive in the digital print area and European location made him a "natural" replacement for Clark.

Owen said he would enjoy taking on the job permanently, but hinted that "Kodak’s strategy is always to look within" should a replacement be recruited for the European role.

He added: "I have had 18 years of experience within the entirety of the product line from Creo’s acquisition of Scitex and then Kodak taking over. You need that kind of experience to effectively manage products to align solutions to the market."

Owen worked closely with Clark while he was employed with Kodak, collaborating on business development and growth of the digital print market. Owen said there has always been interaction between himself and regional business managers and now he is seeing regional projects through to execution as well as implementing tools on a worldwide level.

"It is quite an undertaking. As with corporate manoeuvres you are so far above the level that you forget the enjoyment in the detail. There is a lot going on but it is nice to be back in amongst it," said Owen.

He hinted that there could be some "shuffling around" as the worldwide organisation matches its global structure but said that the "remarkable" response at Drupa validated the strategies laid out with regards to management of Kodak’s digital and commercial business at the beginning of the year.

He added: "When the parent corporation is restructuring it will have some impact in different places with regards to reorganising the company. For example, when we exited the digital camera business it meant the infrastructure across the world had to change – some left, some were redirected – to match up with those kinds of actions."