Davies boasts more than 30 years’ experience in the fast-moving consumer goods sector and has been with Nestlé since 1991.
He most recently held the position of vice president for Nestec in Switzerland, where he was responsible for the strategic direction of Nestlé’s global confectionery business. Davies was also part of the team that designed, built and led the Nestlé Cocoa Plan, the company’s initiative to create shared value in the cocoa supply chain.
Nestlé career
Commenting on his appointment, Davies said: “To be taking the reins at Nestlé UK&I’s confectionery business, where I started as a graduate three decades ago, is something truly special.
“Many of Nestlé’s biggest and best-loved confectionery brands were created right here in the UK, including KitKat, Aero, Quality Street and After Eight. My focus will be on prioritising our sustainability commitments while ensuring that we continue to innovate, keeping our brands fresh and relevant and providing great value for the millions of people who enjoy our products every day.”
Davies took over the position effective from March 1. Richard Watson has moved on to the position of market chief executive.
IGD appointment
This month also saw the appointment of Sarah Bradbury as the new chief executive of the Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD).
She takes over the role from Susan Barratt, who will step down as chief executive on 30 June 2023.
Bradbury has more than 25 years’ experience in retail, most recently as group quality director at Tesco, where she is responsible across the group for delivering high-quality safe products, sustainability, agriculture and regulatory compliance. Prior to this, she held senior commercial and marketing positions at both Tesco and Aldi.
Ash Amirahmadi, chair of IGD’s board of trustees, said: “I am delighted that IGD has attracted such a trusted and respected industry leader as Sarah to lead the next phase of its journey.
“She has a deep knowledge and experience of the key challenges and opportunities facing the food and consumer goods industry and her appointment underlines the scale of IGD’s ambition to keep driving tangible change.
“I’m very much looking forward to working with Sarah in the months ahead; her dynamism, track record of developing teams and driving change through complex stakeholder management will help the IGD team to build on the strong platform that has been established under Susan’s leadership.”
