Jamie Oliver's food and kitchenware company Fresh Retail Ventures is ready to grow its business and has made three appointments for its new headquarters in Manchester.

The business was set up in 2006 and is one of the fastest-growing parts of the Jamie Oliver empire and already boasts €10m (£7m) of sales.

But new boss David Page, who joined the company in April from Pataks, intends to further develop the business with the appointment of Jason Kerr, Jane Hilton, Guy Mottershead and Steve Thompson.

The Grocer understands the trio will be involved with extending its range into the fresh and chilled sector, in addition to relaunching its existing range, which includes olive oil, pasta sauces, pestos, balsamic vinegar, cookware and tableware. Page has taken on Kerr as head of sales, UK & Ireland. Kerr was previously dairy & food UK sales manager at Tetra Pak.

Mottershead, head of international business development, has 20 years experience in food marketing, including stints at Müller, Campbell's UK and Heinz.

Hilton, who joined from Heinz Seafood UK, will head up marketing. Her team will include marketing manager Jennifer Hannah and group product manager Melanie Goodfellow. Thompson joins the company from Mission Foods as head of supply chain and logistics.

"Fresh Retail and Jamie Oliver have many ideas and ambitions for the next few years," said Page. "To grow the business successfully we needed a team capable of doing the job and passionate about the products in the same way Jamie is.

"By relocating the best of Fresh Retail's staff from London and adding these key players from food and related industries, I am confident we now have the right structure in place to move forward with purpose and at real speed."

Topics