Cranswick announces senior appointment to the board

Rachel Horvath will join the firm's board of directors from 30 April 2024, which currently consists of four executive directors and four independent non-executive directors, including the chair.

Elsewhere, Horvath serves as the group people officer at Whitbread, the owner of UK hotel chain Premier Inn, which employs more than 39,000 people across approximately 1,700 Premier Inn hotels and restaurants.

Prior to that, Horvath was the group HR director at SSP Group, before which she spent 16 years with Tesco in operational and HR capacities. She has also served as an officer in the Royal Air Force, specialising in logistics and supply chain.

On appointment, Horvath will become a member of the remuneration, nomination and ESG committees. It is intended that she will succeed Liz Barber as chair of the remuneration committee in August 2024, following the conclusion of a scheduled review of the Cranswick directors' remuneration policy.

Commenting on the appointment on Horvath, Cranswick chair Tim Smith said that he was delighted she would soon be joining the group’s board of directors.

With her strong HR background at Whitbread, SSP and Tesco she brings significant additional commercial acumen and management experience,” ​added Smith.

“This complements the Board, enhances its independence and provides appropriate succession planning for our Remuneration Committee."​

Cranswick employs more than 14,750 people and operates from 22 production facilities across the UK. According to the firm’s third quarter trading update, Cranswick enjoyed a stronger Christmas period than expected and now projects group adjusted profit before tax to be higher than previously anticipated.

The company’s next scheduled comment on trading will be on 21 May when it releases its preliminary results for the 53 weeks ending 30 March.

In other news, an abattoir in Greater Manchester has been ordered to pay a £12k fine​​ after it was convicted of 11 food safety charges relating to meat not being kept below the legal temperature limit.