Wayne Hudson Nomad Foods

Hudson said he was planning to spend more time with his family but remained open to non-exec and advisory roles

Wayne Hudson is leaving his role as UK MD of Bird’s Eye owner Nomad Foods and taking time out of the food and drink industry.

Hudson, who has spent the past 40 years in the sector, will step down at the end of the year.

He joined the frozen food giant in January 2016 as MD of Birds Eye UK & Ireland, where he led a turnaround of the brand.

Hudson also spearheaded the 2018 acquisitions of Goodfella’s and Aunt Bessie’s as Nomad continued its buy-and-build strategy.

Nomad subsequently expanded his remit to include taking charge of the Nordic region in 2020 and the rest of the group’s international business in 2021.

Nomad has kicked off a recruitment process to find Hudson’s successor.

Hudson said the time was right to move away from full-time executive responsibilities and spend more time with his family. He added he remained open to other options, such as non-executive or advisory roles.

“By December 2022 I will have spent the last seven years at Nomad Foods and nearly 40 in the fmcg industry,” he said.

“I am extremely grateful to [CEO] Stefan [Descheemaeker], for the opportunity to join Nomad Foods at the start of its journey and I am both privileged and proud to have been part of the Nomad team and all it has achieved over the past seven years.”

Descheemaeker added: “On behalf of everyone at Nomad Foods, I would like to thank Wayne for his tremendous contribution over the past six-and-a-half years.

“His extensive knowledge of the food and drink sector has been invaluable as we have worked together to grow the Nomad Foods business and set it up for long-term success. We wish him the very best for the future.”

Prior to his time with Nomad Foods, Hudson was MD of the frozen division at Young’s Seafood. During his extensive career in fmcg, Hudson also spent a 14-year spell at Kerry Foods, as well as senior leadership roles at Spiller’s Petfood and United Biscuits.

Nomad was founded in 2014 by Noam Gottesman and Martin E Franklin, with ambitions to build a global frozen foods platform.

It struck its maiden deal in 2015 with the €2.6bn acquisition of Birds Eye owner Iglo, followed by a takeover of the European arm of Findus later that year. A string of M&A activity has followed, including Goodfella’s, Aunt Bessie’s, Fortenova and Findus Switzerland.

Revenues at the group reached €2.6bn in 2021, though demand for frozen food, which soared throughout the pandemic and numerous lockdowns that followed, has slowed.