A Glasgow-based packaging company has bolstered its European growth ambitions by appointing a senior industry executive to a new role.
Macfarlane Group, which supplies retailers such as Dunelm, Currys, IKEA, and Boots, announced today that it has recruited Joost Meijs as it builds its presence in the European protective packaging market.
The appointment of Mr Meijs as managing director of Macfarlane Packaging Distribution, Europe, follows the Scottish firm’s acquisition of PackMann, a protective packaging business in Germany, in 2022. And it comes as the firm accelerates its “follow the customer” programme – a response to demand from some clients for a single supplier for packaging solutions across the UK and Europe.
Macfarlane said Mr Meijs, who has previously held senior roles at FP and Pregis and was most recently chief executive of Tenfold in The Netherlands, has been tasked with growing the company’s presence in Europe and supporting the PackMann team to achieve its growth plans. He will also work on Macfarlane's European acquisition programme.
Read more:
- Ferry crisis hitting hopes of major Scottish industry
- Scotland's chief entrepreneur quits, citing right wing attacks
-
Glasgow Buchanan Galleries rethink will have lasting impact
“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,” said Mr Meijs, who will join the group on January 1, 2025, and report directly to chief executive Peter Atkinson.
“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.”
Mr Atkinson noted: “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.”
The appointment comes after Macfarlane reported a fall in profits for the first half of the year in August, amid price inflation and continuing weak demand at its packaging distribution arm.
The company, which was started by the late Lord Macfarlane of Bearsden as a stationery supplier shortly after the Second World War, declared its performance had been “resilient” as pre-tax profits fell by 3% to £9.7 million during the six months to June 30. However, it said it expects prices to be higher in the second half.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here