Lock will be responsible for strategic marketing in all of Duplo International's Territories – including subsidiaries in the UK, Poland, Italy and France.

He has more than 20 years of sales and marketing experience in the printing industry, and has spent the last eight years in a European-wide marketing role at OKI Printing Solutions.

Prior to that, Lock worked for Xerox and Toshiba where he held a number of positions from engineering, technical specialist, dealer manager and new business sales roles.

Lock will be responsible for the company's distributor countries across Europe, and the Middle East & Africa (EMEA) and will liaise with Duplo Corporation's research and development team in Japan, as well as market new and existing products from both offset and digital markets.

Duplo chief executive Robin Greenhalgh said: "I am thrilled that Tony is joining Duplo at this exciting time. Duplo has gone from strength to strength throughout recent years.

"As a result we've created this new position to play a key strategic role in guiding us towards achieving our ambitious growth plan which will see Duplo International reach its target of £100m turnover in the next five years."

He said Lock's knowledge of the print market along with his sales and marketing experience made him the right person for the position.

Lock said: "Duplo is extremely well known for its innovative product portfolio and world class customer service so I'm very pleased to be joining this ambitious and successful company.

"Duplo is entering an exciting new chapter and I'll focus on meeting the demands and challenges of rapid expansion.

"I'm looking forward to leading the next phase in Duplo's history, building on the excellent work that is already taking place and exceeding the demands of our customers."