Italian trekking and outdoor footwear company Aku has appointed Mirco Battaglia as sales manager for Italy. Mr Battaglia has previously held roles in sales management at companies such as Benetton Sportsystem, Marcolin eyewear, The North Face and Trudi.

In this new role he will develop the sales of New Zealand pure Merino sporting apparel brand Icebreaker, which Aku  distributes in Italy.

Mr Battaglia's appointment is part of an ongoing management restructuring strategy at the company that has also included the appointments of Andrea Cattaneo as product manager and Vittorio Forato as marketing manager in the last six months.