He also worked for the Australian Wine & Brandy Corporation supporting wineries with market activities and market entry in Continental Europe as well as implementing a media and education plan in line with Wine Australia’s EMEA strategy.

Lockwood joins the company from joins from Grant Burge Wines where he held the position of European sales & marketing manager for the past seven years. He joins AVL on September 1, and will be based in Berlin, Germany.

AVL general manager UK & Europe, Julian Dyer, said: “The appointment of Tim Lockwood and with it the opening of a branch in Europe is a real coup for us. AVL has seen a tremendous growth in the UK market in the last 12 months, and with our McGuigan wine brand now being the fourth largest in this market, we feel the time is right to expand further into Europe. With Tim we have someone on board who brings years of valuable experience in the Australian wine industry as well as a deep understanding about the drinks trade industry in the European Union, Switzerland, Russia and beyond”.

Lockwood said: “I am delighted to head up AVL´s move into mainland Europe´s dynamic and certainly diverse markets.”