Source: Pladis

Callander and Brain join from DS Smith and Britvic respectively

McVitie’s owner Pladis has bolstered its senior team with a duo of new appointments.

The businesss has appointed Trevor Callander, formerly sales, marketing and innovation director for Northern Europe at DS Smith, to the role of VP grocery UK&I, and Florence Brain, formerly director of category, shopper and trade engagement at Britvic, as impuse director UK&I.

In his new role, Callander would “focus on driving sustained category growth for Pladis UK&I as well as steering its response to industry-wide challenges faced by the grocery sector, such as high rates of inflation and regulatory change”, said Pladis.

Brain, meanwhile, would “lead the impulse commercial team to drive for strategic partnerships with customers and unlock new opportunities for Pladis’s portfolio of well-known brands”, it added.

The business’ UK&I MD David Murray said Pladis was “delighted to welcome Trevor and Florence to the leadership team”.

“Joining us at a time when our industry is facing significant headwinds, both bring with them unparalleled understanding of our sector, which will help us navigate and exploit opportunities for growth, amid the evolving retail landscape.”

It comes as recent financials for the company revealed sales took a hit over the year to 31 December 2021, with the business citing a “slower than expected” post-Covid recovery. 

A breakdown of revenues by region in its accounts showed the top line in the UK & Ireland fell from £772.2m in 2020, to £766.8m last year. The business cited tough comparisons against the lockdown period, which saw shoppers stocking up on biscuits.