Holmes, who joined the board at Carr’s in 1991, had held the position of ceo between 1994 and March this year.
Before that he served at senior management level in the agricultural division of J Bibby & Sons.
Most recently Holmes had been executive chairman of Carr’s since March, following the appointment of Tim Davies as ceo.
‘In excellent hands’
Holmes said: “Following the completion of our management succession plan, now is the right time for me to step back from executive responsibilities. Carr’s is in excellent hands under the leadership of Tim Davies and has an exciting future.”
Davies joined the Carlisle-based firm from grain business Openfield.
He had held the role of group md at Openfield since its formation in 2008, following the merger of Grainfarmers and Centaur Grain.
Davies had been group md of Grainfarmers since 2005, having joined the firm as sales director in 1999.
Meanwhile, last month Carr’s Milling Industries announced it had continued to benefit from the closure of Premier Food’s Glasgow mill last March.
The firm said the closure had eased “some capacity-related pressures” in the Scottish market, while its new state-of-the-art mill being built at Kirkcaldy was on track for commissioning in September.