Associated British Foods Plc
ABF:LN
Latest Coverage
Overview
Company Profile
Associated British Foods is the Weston family's UK arm. The Westons still own over 50% and through their careful husbandry it now owns a raft of the UK's best-known brand names including Twinings tea, Ovaltine, Primark and British Sugar.
Classification
Sector Consumer Staples
Industry Consumer Products - Foods
Subindustry Canned, Frozen & Preserved Foods
Financials
News & Media
Corporate
Board of Directors
Charles Sinclair
Chairman
Charles was appointed a non-executive director in October 2008 and as Chairman in April 2009. With wide business experience of both the UK and overseas, his executive career was latterly with Daily Mail and General Trust plc, where he was chief executive from 1989 until he retired from that role and the board in September 2008. Committee membership: Chairman of the Nomination and Remuneration committees.
George Weston
Chief Executive
George was appointed to the board in 1999 and took up his current appointment as Chief Executive in April 2005. In his former roles at Associated British Foods, he was Managing Director of Westmill Foods, Allied Bakeries and George Weston Foods Limited (Australia). Other appointments: He is a non-executive director of Wittington Investments Limited and a trustee of the Garfield Weston Foundation.
John Bason
Finance Director
John was appointed as Finance Director in May 1999. He was previously the finance director of Bunzl plc and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Other appointments: He is a non-executive director of Compass Group PLC, a trustee of Voluntary Service Overseas and deputy chairman of the charity FareShare.
Emma Adamo
Non-executive director
Emma was appointed as a director in December 2011. She was educated at Stanford University and INSEAD in France. Other appointments: She is a director of Wittington Investments Limited, and of the W Garfield Weston Foundation in Canada.
Ruth Cairnie
Independent non-executive director
Ruth was appointed a director in May 2014. She has extensive overseas experience including international marketing and supply chain. Ruth was formerly Executive Vice President Strategy & Planning at Royal Dutch Shell Plc. This role followed a number of senior international roles within Shell, including Vice President of their Global Commercial Fuels business. She is a physicist by qualification. Other appointments: She is a non-executive director of Keller Group plc and of Rolls-Royce Holdings plc. Committee membership: Member of the Audit and Remuneration committees.
Tim Clarke
Independent non-executive director
Tim was appointed a director in November 2004 and has been Senior Independent Director since December 2007. Tim has extensive experience of retailing. Until 2009, he was chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers plc, following its demerger from Six Continents PLC where he also held the position of chief executive. Previously he had been a partner of Panmure Gordon & Co before joining Bass PLC in 1990. Other appointments: He is a non-executive director of two pub and brewing companies, Hall & Woodhouse Limited, and Timothy Taylor & Company Limited, and also Triple Point VCT 2011 PLC. Committee membership: Member of the Nomination and Remuneration committees.
Lord Jay of Ewelme GCMG
Independent non-executive director
Lord Jay was appointed a director in November 2006 and has broad experience of government and international business. During his career in public service he was British Ambassador to France from 1996 to 2001 and Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 2002 to 2006. He was previously a non-executive director of Candover Investments plc, Valeo (the French-based automobile parts company) and Electricité de France. Other appointments: He has been an independent member of the House of Lords since 2006. He is also chairman of the British Library Advisory Council. Committee membership: Member of the Audit, Nomination and Remuneration committees.
Javier Ferrán
Independent non-executive director
Javier was appointed a director in November 2006. He spent the earlier part of his career with Bacardi Group, where latterly he served as president and chief executive officer. He has in-depth knowledge of consumer brands on an international basis and of international financing. Other appointments: He is currently a partner at Lion Capital LLP, a London-based private equity firm. He is also a non-executive director of SABMiller plc. Committee membership: Member of the Audit, Nomination and Remuneration committees.
Peter Smith
Independent non-executive director
Peter was appointed a director in February 2007 and brings broad experience of international financial matters. Formerly, he was senior partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in the UK. He served for two years as chairman of Coopers & Lybrand International and as a member of the global leadership team of PwC. He was also chairman of RAC plc and a non-executive director of Safeway plc. Other appointments: He is chairman of Savills plc and Templeton Emerging Markets Investment Trust plc, and a member of the supervisory board of Paris Orléans SCA. He is also chairman of the Land Restoration Trust. Committee membership: Chairman of the Audit committee and a member of the Nomination and Remuneration committees.
Wolfhart Hauser
Independent non-executive director
Wolfhart Hauser was appointed a director in January 2015. Starting his career with various research activities, he went on to establish and lead a broad range of successful international service industry businesses. He was chief executive of Intertek Group plc for ten years until he retired from that role and the board in May 2015. Dr Hauser has held several non-executive board director and chairman roles in a variety of technology companies. He was previously chief executive officer and president of TÜV Süddeutschland AG for four years and chief executive officer of TÜV Product Services for ten years. He was a non-executive director of Logica plc from 2007 to 2012. Other appointments: He is a non-executive director of RELX Group plc and its listed parent companies RELX PLC and RELX NV. He is also chairman of FirstGroup plc. Committee membership: Member of the Audit and Remuneration committees.