Wayne Hudson, former managing director of the frozen division of Young’s Seafoods, will take the helm of Birds Eye in the United Kingdom in January of 2016. He will replace Andy Weston-Webb, who will assume the newly created position of chief commercial officer of the Iglo Group, whose diversified Birds Eye, Iglo and Findus frozen food brand portfolios in Europe are owned by Tortola, BVI-headquartered Nomad Foods Limited.
Wayne Hudson will soon head up Birds Eye in the UK.With more than 32 years of experience in the British food industry, Hudson had headed up Young’s frozen food business from January of 2013 through July 31, 2015. He departed the Grimsby, England-headquartered company after it consolidated frozen and chilled operations as part of a restructuring plan calling for a “more streamlined approach” to respond to challenges in the marketplace.
“I am delighted to be joining Birds Eye and to lead the next phase of development of such an iconic brand,” said Hudson. “Consumers continue to be very careful about how much they spend on food and drink, but still feel frozen food has a role in their lives. As the No. 1 brand, with the history it has, Birds Eye has a crucial role to play in exciting our customers and consumers about the category.”
The new job taken on by Weston-Webb, who has served as managing director of Birds Eye since 2011, will encompass category marketing and group sales as well as research and development.
“It’s never been more important to have an integrated consumer and customer approach guiding our group strategy, brands and innovation,” said Winston-Webb. “With our recent acquisition of Findus in Europe, we are well positioned to leverage this expertise across an even greater scale.”
Meanwhile, Iglo’s third quarter results for the period ending on September 30 showed an 11.2% decline in sales compared to the same period in 2014. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell by 13.6% to €63.6 million (£44.9 million).
