Uniq in hunt for new boss
Convenience foods business Uniq said today it was looking for a new chief executive as part of a strategic overhaul at the former takeover target.
Uniq, which supplies sandwiches and other products to retailers including Marks & Spencer, said current boss Bill Ronald was to leave the group in order for the company to gain “a different set of leadership skills”.
It has also dumped its strategy of seeking to build a pan-European chilled food business and said it would look to operate three separate divisions covering the UK, southern Europe and northern Europe.
The moves are the result of a review carried out during the five months in which the company was the subject of takeover interest. Bid talks – thought to be with a private equity company – collapsed earlier this month amid concerns over the impact of an estimated £100m (€143m) hole in Uniq’s pensions fund.
Uniq, which employs 4,000 people in the UK and 5,000 staff in mainland Europe, also warned it would look to achieve a reduction in overhead costs of at least £6m (€8.6m) in the 2005/06 financial year, before growing to £20m (€28.7m) a year by 2007/08. It has not disclosed how it will achieve the savings.
Uniq said its outlook for the financial year to the end of March remained unchanged but that the outlook for 2005/06 appeared “challenging”.
During the search for a successor to Mr Ronald, chairman Nigel Stapleton and his three divisional managing directors will take on greater on extra responsibilities.
Mr Ronald, who worked at confectionery business Mars for 23 years, took over as chief executive in February 2002 and picked up a salary of £335,000 (€480,000).
Mr Stapleton said the strategy aimed to take advantage of the strong market positions for many of the company’s businesses.
He added: “The board is confident that these business can deliver greater value to shareholders if the divisional management teams are more focused and we take the tough decisions needed to drive down cost and accelerate product innovation.
“We are sorry to be parting company with Bill Ronald as a result of these decisions.”
