Mason, who was formerly regional president and chairman, will retain the role of chairman of PaperlinXs UK, Irish and South African businesses.

The merchanting companies that I am responsible for are all in extremely good shape, said Mason, who indicated he would continue to be around for some time.

PaperlinX is an Australian merchanting and paper manufacturing group that bought the paper merchanting division of Buhrmann last year. That deal, worth 492m, includes Howard Smith Paper, the Robert Horne Group, and M6 Papers in the UK.

It also bought paper merchant group PaperCo, formerly Bunzl Fine Paper, in 2002 in a 138m deal (PrintWeek, 28 June 2002).

Fothergill said: Its just a slight change in structure with of course succession in mind, but its business as usual and I look forward to working very strongly with Stephen [Mason].

A replacement is being sought for Fothergills role as managing director of PaperCo.

The latest managerial move comes as PaperlinX prepares for a changeover at its head, with Thomas Park set to take over as managing director and chief executive, with effect from 1 February 2004.

Story by Andy Scott