Innocent drone shot

Innocent has grown significantly during Davenport’s time at the company

Innocent Drinks has announced the departure of veteran chief operating officer James Davenport.

Having joined the smoothie giant in 2003 as head of finance, Davenport had been “integral to the transformation of the business” over his more than 20-year employment, Innocent said.

James Davenport

Davenport joined Innocent in 2003 as head of finance

He will depart the business at the end of June.

“I want to thank James for his significant contribution to Innocent Drinks over the past two decades,” said Innocent Drinks CEO Nick Canney. “During his tenure, the business has undergone incredible expansion and transformation, and James’s leadership has played a pivotal role in this 50-fold increase in the revenue of the company over this time.

“At Innocent we celebrate our leavers for the part they played in leaving things better than they found them, and James can certainly say this with great confidence. We wish him well as he joins the talented list of Innocent alumnae.”

Davenport added: “I started with Innocent back in 2003 when we were selling a small range of smoothies in the UK. We are now on sale across most of Europe with our own factory making our drinks.

“It has been an absolute privilege to know millions of people buy our drinks every week, enabled by the efforts of the many excellent people who I have been lucky to work with. I’m looking forward to spending time with my family over summer and exploring my next career move.”

Davenport’s replacement is yet to be announced by Innocent.