- Bakery manufacturer Dawn Foods has named Kevin Hodge as its European product development manager. He comes from Macphie Ingredients where he was in NPD for 14 years. He has worked for Dawn before in the role of technical sales manager, he then went to Australia to work for Goodman Fielder Wattie.*
- Leo Guevara is now head of The Food Technology Centre at the University of Teesside where he hopes to help academics and food companies work together to develop industry in the region. The Centre, established in March 1999, supports small and medium-sized food and drink companies in the North East. Guevara was formerly senior lecturer in food science at the University of Huddersfield, and has worked with Lyons Patisserie and Kraft General Foods.
- Two new members have been appointed to the board of the Home-Grown Cereals Authority (HGCA) and one existing member has been reappointed. The new appointments are Ivor Murrell, director general of the Maltsters Association of Great Britain, and David Halligan, a divisional director of Deans Foods. The re-appointment is Jonathan Tipples, an arable farmer first appointed to the HGCA in June 2001. The HGCA is a public body funded by statutory levies and its own commercial activities to improve the production and marketing of home-grown cereals and oilseeds.
- Mark Smith has joined Renaissance South Yorkshire, a company created with some European funding to transform the economic prospects of the area. He will be head of cluster development, including food technology. He joins from the Department of Trade and Industry.
- Iain Herd, formerly general manager of Macrae Food Group's Salmon Poachers operation in Wiltshire, has been promoted to general manager of Strathaird Salmon in Inverness. Taking over as general manager at The Salmon Poachers is Duncan Lucas. Winner of the 'Fish Craftsman of the Year' competition on several occasions, Lucas formerly worked for Brake Brothers and was fish development manager at Safeway. His last post was as a consultant involved in fish development work in Norway.
- Michael Klacik has joined National Starch as senior director of nutrition and bioscience. Klacik will be responsible for the company's carbohydrate nutrition business. He was vice president, business development, at OmegaTech.
- Alan Jessop has joined Canterbury Foods as general manager of its production site in Sheppey, Kent. He takes on overall responsibility for all aspects of day-to-day production at the Sheppey site, where Canterbury has recently invested substantially in new production equipment and systems. The plant employs some 130 people and specialises in a range of savoury pastries, pies and sausage rolls.
Jessop brings 25 years' experience in the food industry to the role, including spells with Bernard Matthews, GW Padley and Unigate.