Round up
Senior appointments at two UK food and drink manufacturers
Hambledon Vineyard appoints new managing director
Hampshire-based Hambledon Vineyard has announced that James Osborn will serve as its new managing director.
Osborn will join the team in April 2024, bringing with him more than 10 years of experience in the English wine industry. His most recent position saw him work on the English wine consultancy team for Knight Frank, where he specialised in building higher margin and more valuable wine brands.
Prior to this, Osborn was a founding member of The Wine Garden of England and managing director for Squerryes Wine Estate. He remains a non-executive director at Tillingham Wine Estate.
Hambledon is the oldest commercial vineyard in England, with the first vines planted at the site in 1952, and was acquired in November 2023 in a joint venture between Berry Bros & Rudd and Symington Family Estates. As of today, the 200 acre vineyard has the capacity to produce more than 500,000 bottles of sparkling wine each year.
Commenting on the appointment of Osborn, Emma Fox, CEO of Berry Bros & Rudd, said: “He brings a wealth of expertise in the English Sparkling Wine sector and will be instrumental in leading Hambledon’s growth plans at a very exciting time for the English sparkling category.”
Meanwhile, Symington Family Estates director Rob Symington described Osborn as “experienced”, adding that “developing the senior leadership team is an important part of our plan to grow Hambledon Vineyard.”
Osborn concluded by stating that he was “delighted” to arrive at the vineyard during such an “exciting time for the business and the sector as a whole”.
“I am passionate about English wine and am excited to be part of Hambledon’s sparkling future,” he added.
Lactalis UK & Ireland promotes Nicole Kurz to group supply chain director
Dairy manufacturer Lactalis UK & Ireland has promoted Nicole Kurz to the role of group supply chain director.
Kurz previously served as head of supply chain services, with the promotion further enhancing the company’s female leadership team to four women. She started in the role on 2 January 2024 and is responsible for end-to-end supply chain.
Having spent more than 10 years with Lactalis UK & Ireland, Kurz has 23 years of experience working within the FMCG supply chain and has a proven track-record of delivering complex, time-critical projects across multiple locations. Her career to date has included roles with Unilever, Safeway, Nestle Purina UK and Method Products Ltd.
Mike Chatters, group managing director at Lactalis UK & Ireland, congratulated Kurz by stating that the company was “delighted” to offer her the promotion “in recognition of her hard work, drive and enthusiasm”.
“Nicole has been instrumental in developing our supply chain operations and we can’t wait to see what she does next,” Chatters added.
Meanwhile, Kurz said that she was proud to be part of a company that “nurtures its team, supports ongoing development and is committed to diversity and inclusion”.
She continued: “This is an exciting, yet challenging time in the industry and I’m looking forward to working with the supply chain team and board to deal with the rapid and ever-changing face of supply chain across Europe, as well as further developing the company’s DEI strategy.”
In other news, more than one million people adopted a vegan diet in the UK over past 12 months according to a new study.
