Joost Meijs will join the Glasgow-headquartered packaging company in the newly created role on 1 January 2025, reporting directly to Macfarlane’s chief executive, Peter Atkinson.

He will work with Macfarlane’s existing European team to further expand the company’s presence in Europe.

In recent years Macfarlane has expanded its strategic European presence with the acquisition of the PackMann protective packaging business in Germany.

It has also accelerated its ‘Follow the Customer’ programme, responding to the demand from some clients to provide them with a single supplier protective packaging offering across Europe and the UK.

Meijs will support the PackMann team to achieve their growth plans. He will also provide additional resource to progress further European acquisitions.

Atkinson said: “Growing our presence in Europe is a strategic priority for Macfarlane as our customers increasingly look for a single supplier solution for their European operations.

“With his experience, knowledge and a proven ability to lead European-based businesses, Joost will add an additional level of expertise, enabling us to maximise our potential in the European market.”

Meijs added: “This is a great time to join Macfarlane and I plan to use my knowledge of the European protective packaging market to support the company’s European expansion plans.

“Meeting the needs of our customers is my primary focus and I look forward to working with the Macfarlane team to support our customers’ growth aspirations.”

Meijs has a proven track record of growing businesses in Europe and extensive experience in the protective packaging industry. He has held senior roles at FP and at Pregis.

Most recently he was the CEO of Tenfold, a fast-growing privately-owned protective packaging business in The Netherlands.

In August, 1,000-plus staff Macfarlane Group reported decreases in both its sales and pre-tax profit in its half-year results but said it had responded effectively to a challenging period through various means.