Coca-Cola Enterprises has appointed Nick Canney as vice president for sales and customer development.

Canney will join Coca-Cola Enterprises in July from Kraft Foods UK & Ireland where he was most recently grocery sales director for Kraft GB, with lead responsibility for the combined Cadbury and Kraft food business.

In his new role, he will report to region vice president and general manager Simon Baldry and will have responsibility for all ­aspects of Coca-Cola Enterprises' commercial ­relationships with the trade working with ­customers to grow the overall soft drinks category.

He started his career as a graduate trainee with Cadbury and has since gained extensive experience in manufacturing, ­logistics and marketing. For the past six years, he has held numerous senior trading director roles across all channels.

"Coca-Cola Enterprises is rightly famous for its brands, people and above all else its strong customer focus," said Canney. "I look forward to working with my new colleagues and partnering with Coca-Cola Enterprises' customers to keep developing this exciting category."

Canney would play a key role in working with its trade partners to "unlock profitable category growth", added Baldry.

"We're delighted to be welcoming someone of Nick's calibre into this role," he said. "He brings a proven track record of leading, inspiring and developing customer-facing commercial teams that have gained significant sales and share growth on the back of continuous improvements in service."

Canney replaces Ian Deste, who announced in February that he was leaving following 20 years working for the soft drinks giant.

He was a key member of CCE's top team and held a number of roles including head of corporate affairs and marketing director.

"Nothing is forever. I'm really excited at the prospect of being able to transfer the experience gained at CCE to another opportunity elsewhere," he told The Grocer at the time.