A trio of Hovis executives have departed the bakery brand’s board following the formal completion of the Allied Bakeries takeover last week, The Grocer has learned. It comes as the latest accounts for Hovis revealed tumbling volumes and ballooning pre-tax losses.
Chief commercial officer Alistair Gaunt, chief operations officer Chris Bradley and chief finance officer Jamie McComasky have all now followed former CEO Jon Jenkins, who left Hovis shortly after the deal was announced in August 2025, out the door.
The four had a cumulative 16 years’ experience on Hovis’ board.
Allied, now named Hovis Bakeries, did not comment on the departures. Last week, former Allied Bakeries CEO Sarah Arrowsmith took up leadership of the combined business, with Allied finance director Graeme Burnett continuing in his role. Arrowsmith told The Grocer last week that the company would review its management structure upon completion of the deal.
Fresh Companies House documents revealed this week that Hovis Group’s turnover fell 3.8% to £430m in the year to 28 September 2025, with volumes down by 2.9%. The year also saw Hovis swing into an operating loss for the first time since 2022, falling £8.7m into the red. It made a £2.5m operating profit in the prior year.
Underlying profitability also took a big hit during the year on the back of lower volumes. EBITDA sank 33% (or by £9.4m) to £19m.
The company said that while it had won “significant” private label SKU listings with a national supermarket, volumes had overall taken a hit from retailer-led range reviews.
Alongside the dive in volumes, Hovis blamed the decline in profitability on rising National Insurance and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) costs.
After allowing for finance expenses of £11.6m, related to borrowings and other obligations, pre-tax losses at the group ballooned from £7.9m in 2023/24 to £20.3m.
Responding to the results being published, Arrowsmith said Hovis’ accounts were “in line with what was expected”.
Hovis Bakeries’ next steps
In an exclusive interview with The Grocer last week, Arrowsmith said Allied would spend the first few weeks of its ownership understanding Hovis’ exact financial and operational position, before using that knowledge to tweak its strategy for the merger.
ABF has acknowledged the merger would prove a blow to its profits in 2027, but said it would help return both Allied and Hovis to growth and profitability. The company has secured agreements for funding from ABF that Arrowsmith said would fund significant new marketing and NPD initiatives to revitalise sales and bring the brands back into “relevance” after years in decline.
“We want to come out fighting,” Arrowsmith said.
Hovis Bakeries now has 26 sites across the UK, with around 5,500 employees, though the company will undergo a significant restructure following the merger.
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