Food and drink industry senior appointments
Clean Kitchen Club appoints new MD
Plant-based food brand Clean Kitchen Club has announced the appointment of Thomas Foulser as its new managing director.
Foulser joins Clean Kitchen Club from Inception Group, the experiential hospitality brand behind Mr Fogg's, Barts, Cahoots, Bunga Bunga, Maggie's and The London Gin Club.
His appointment comes at a pivotal time for Clean Kitchen Club as the vegan food brand, co-founded by Mikey Pearce and Verity Bowditch, opens its fourth site on Soho’s Old Compton Street.
Foulser said: “On my initial visit to Clean Kitchen Club, I was amazed at just how good the product is and its ability to satisfy everyone, from hard core vegans to carnivores. This genuinely is a brand for everyone, one that is good for the people who work there, for their customers and for the planet as a whole. I can’t wait to play a part in its continued development.”
National Pig Association appoints new chief executive
The National Pig Association (NPA) has appointed Lizzie Wilson to be its new chief executive.
Wilson, who has been a key figure within the association for more than a decade, replaces Zoe Davies at the helm, after Davies took up a new role with the NFU.
Wilson has a track record at the NPA, having joined the organisation in 2011, initially as regions manager, and more recently as policy services officer.
NPA chairman Rob Mutimer said: “I am delighted that we have appointed Lizzie. She was an outstanding candidate from a competitive recruitment process and brings fantastic levels of experience, industry knowledge and general know-how to the role.
“She has always shown tremendous passion for the pig sector during her time with the NPA and has achieved so much for the sector already."
Wilson said: “Leading the organisation in such turbulent financial and political times, and with increasingly limited resource will of course be challenging.
“But with support from my very capable team, and the NPA’s Pig Industry Group, I am determined to help the sector navigate the next few months to ensure we emerge better and more resilient than ever.”
Kingsland Drinks appoints operations director
Kingsland Drinks has announced the appointment of Andy Henderson as operations director.
In a new role created following the firm’s move to employee-owned status and building on continued investment in infrastructure and capabilities, Henderson takes on responsibility for Kingsland Drinks’s factory operations, technical and supply chain functions.
Henderson was formerly in senior operations and supply chain roles across a range of companies including INEOS Hygenics, Abby Logistics Group, Agro Merchants Group, Cocoa Cola European Partners, HJ Heinz and Diageo.
Ed Baker, managing director of Kingsland Drinks said: “Our business has transformed in recent years to one that supports all aspects of the wine, spirits and low/no sector. Combined with our newly-established status as employee owned, this role will ensure the best co-ordinated service delivery to our customers."
Henderson’s appointment follows the creation of an Employee Ownership Trust Board in 2021 comprising Ian Hiscock as Independent Chairman, John Lumb and Charlie Goodwin as Employee trustees and Andy Sagar and Karen Wilson as shareholder trustees.
In July 2022, Kingsland Drinks announced a long-term-partnership with Manchester Still and investment in a craft spirit facility on its site in Irlam, Manchester. The facility will provide Kingsland Drinks and its sister company Ten Locks with the ability to produce artisan spirits and marks a new development in the firm’s capabilities as a full-service drinks company.
