Irn-Bru maker AG Barr has appointed a former Sainsbury’s CFO as its new chairman following a search kicked off in January.
Darren Shapland joined the Scottish drinks group today (1 September) as non-executive director and chairman of the board, succeeding Susan Barratt, who has served in the role on an interim basis since 15 January.
It follows former chairman Mark Allen stepping down as chairman at AG Barr at the start of the year to focus on a turnaround at Hilton Food Group as the meat and fish processor’s new executive chairman.
Shapland brings 40 years of “extensive financial, operational, and governance experience within major UK retail, leisure and other consumer businesses”, according to a AG Barr statement on the London Stock Exchange this morning.
He served as CFO at Sainsbury’s from 2005 to 2010 and then development director before leaving the supermarket chain in 2011.
He is currently the non-executive chairman of Hollywood Bowl Group and as an independent non-executive director at JD Sports Fashion.
His previous public board roles include serving as non-executive chairman of Topps Tiles and Poundland, and he was also formerly a non-executive director and audit committee chairman at of Ladbrokes and Ferguson. During his executive career, Shapland was CEO of Carpetright, having previously held CFO roles at Carpetright and Superdrug, following senior finance and operational leadership roles at The Burton Group.
Barratt will resume her role as a senior independent director.
“On behalf of the entire team, I want to thank Susan for her exceptionally steady leadership as interim chair over the past few months, and I am very pleased that the business will continue to benefit from her deep commercial insight,” AG Barr CEO Euan Sutherland said.
“We are incredibly excited to welcome Darren to AG Barr. His wealth of consumer, commercial, and financial expertise will be invaluable as we continue to drive long-term value for our shareholders, build our brand momentum, and execute our growth strategy.”
Shapland added: “AG Barr is a business with a truly unique heritage, powerful brands, and a highly robust financial foundation. I am delighted to be taking over as chair at such a pivotal time in the company’s journey. I look forward to working with Euan and Susan, and the rest of the board and executive leadership team to support the business in achieving its long-term strategic objectives.”
Barratt said: “Following a rigorous and independent search process, we are delighted to welcome Darren to AG Barr. His incredible depth of experience across the UK retail and consumer landscape, combined with an exemplary record of public company governance, makes him the ideal choice to guide our board through the next chapter of the company’s strategic growth.
“It has been an honour to lead the board on an interim basis, and I look forward to working closely alongside Darren as a non-executive director.”
The appointment of a new chairman follows a difficult first half for AG Barr when a mistake with distribution led to £10m of lost sales and harmed the share price.
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