Round up
Britvic and CoolKit announce senior appointments
Britvic appoints Rémy Sharps as Britvic Teisseire International managing director
Rémy Sharps has been appointed as the managing director of Britvic Teisseire International, Britvic’s business unit responsible for operations in mainland Europe and all export markets.
Sharps will take up the role at the end of February 2024 when Hessel de Jong officially steps down. Since joining Britvic in 2015, de Jong helped grow the international business through the establishment of export brands London Essence and Mathieu Teisseire and a series of partnerships around the world.
Meanwhile, Sharps previously served as chair and chief executive of Kroonenberg SAS, a subsidiary of the Carlsberg Group. In this role, he helped lead the company’s turnaround, accelerated the premium development of the brand’s portfolio and oversaw the success of its alcohol-free range.
Overall, he spent 10 years with the Carlsberg Group, also acting as chief sales officer working across 80 markets. Prior to that, Sharps spent 19 years with the Colgate-Palmolive Group in various sales and marketing roles.
Commenting on the announcement, Britvic CEO Simon Litherland said the firm was delighted to welcome Sharps into its “family”.
“He has extensive knowledge and experience of the French and international FMCG market and a proven track record for driving positive momentum and delivering significant growth for businesses in his previous roles at Carlsberg and Colgate-Palmolive.”
Litherland added that Sharps’ leadership should prove “invaluable” as the company pursues its international growth ambitions. He also thanked de Jong for his “significant contribution to Britvic’s growth journey over the past eight years”.
Sharps echoed Litherland’s excitement, stating: “I grew up with the Teisseire brand, I am happy to work with a very committed team and contribute to the development of Britvic's brand portfolio in the future. I also appreciate the company's commitment to sustainability through its Healthier People, Healthier Planet strategy.”
CoolKit makes operations director appointment
UK-based temperature-controlled van specialist CoolKit has appointed Joe Gleave as its new operations director.
Gleave is a highly-experienced engineer and manufacturing operations expert who held a series of managerial roles prior to joining CoolKit. His arrival comes at the start of a new era for the firm as it recovers from a fire that destroyed its main van conversion premises in Burnley only six months ago.
Despite this, CoolKit has re-established its conversion premises at a new site in Blackburn that includes a 75,000 square foot workshop able to accommodate 60 vans at a time. Vans converted by CoolKit are used extensively within the food and drink sector, with the firm currently employing more than 100 members of staff.
Gleave has a MEng honours degree specialising in Aerospace Engineering from Sheffield University as most recently served as UK plant director the Aqualung Group, where he was responsible for the manufacturing operation in the UK.
Reflecting on his decision, Gleave said that he joined CoolKit to implement the transformation required to grow the business in line with its plan to double output within three years.
He continued: “I’ve come for the challenge, a complex challenge. And, while I have been here only a short time, I already know I’m not on my own. There’s a ton of people with a can-do attitude trying to continually improve our processes and that’s massive.”
Meanwhile, CoolKit managing director Daniel Miller added: “We have been fortunate in being able to appoint such an outstandingly experienced operations director as Joe.
“He has all the qualities we were looking for to help move the business forward. He is a consummate professional in his field and I am excited about the business’s future success as Joe joins an executive team that has made a transformational change over the last 12 months.”
In other news, Heather Mills has purchased the assets of vegan food manufacturer VBites from administrators.
