Board member retires from Premier Foods

10-Jun-2012 - Last updated on 11-Jun-2012 at 16:47 GMT

Louise Makin is to retire from the Premier board at the end of September

Premier Foods board member Louise Makin is to retire from the board at the end of September 2012.

The date marks the expiry of her second three-year term with Premier. Makin is ceo of BTG , an international healthcare specialist.

The announcement of her departure follows news earlier this month that Premier Foods’ chairman Ronnie Bell was to step down.

City analyst Investec described the news of Bell’s departure as “unhelpful”.

Unplanned change

The firm’s Martin Deboo said: “So, Premier surprise us again and the impression of unplanned change is not helpful, to our eyes.”

Premier’s explanation that Bell left to pursue other business commitment is plausible, he added. Bell is chairman of Milk Link, which announced a merger with Arla Foods on May 22. “However, the impression of an unplanned succession is a regrettable one for us,” said Deboo.

Bell, who stepped down on June 1, was replaced on an interim basis by senior independent director, David Beever.