Griffiths, who was responsible for turning Williams Lea into the world's largest print manager, has been named executive chairman while his replacement as chief executive is Conor Davey.

Griffiths said: "We are now a truly global business with a market-leading proposition backed by one of the world's leading brands, DPDHL. I saw this as the perfect juncture in Williams Lea's progression to transfer leadership to Conor."

Davey, who took over as chief executive on 2 November, highlighted the opportunity provided by the group's July acquisition of Tag Worldwide to create "a unique best-in-class offering for marketing execution services".

"We need to ensure that our future strategy and organisational structure is fit for purpose so that we maintain our market-leading position. We are excited about the opportunities which lie ahead for our business."

Davey joined Williams Lea in an account operations role in 1991 and has held a number of senior management positions, including group business development director and chief executive, Europe.