Deri Watkins, Mars Petcare

Deri Watkins

Mars Petcare UK has promoted Deri Watkins to the role of managing director.

Taking over from Damian Guha, who has moved to a global role, Watkins was previously the Whiskas and Pedigree maker’s chief customer officer, working in close partnership with both sales teams and customers to drive value and growth across markets. He was also a key architect for the rapid acceleration of Mars Petcare’s e-commerce capabilities globally, said the business.

Watkins has spent 20 years with Mars UK, holding a variety of positions at Mars, including general manager for ice cream at Mars Chocolate. He took on his latest role this week, based at Mars Petcare’s UK head office in Waltham-on-the-Wolds, Leicestershire.

Now was an exciting time for the UK petcare category, he said. “I will be focusing on accelerating the growth we have already seen in the past years, through new product innovation and delivering the quality, best loved brands like that consumers love.”