Group Board

Simon has served as a Non-executive Director of Bakkavor since February 2017 and was appointed as Chairman in October 2017. Simon is a chartered accountant with over 30 years’ experience in the retail and food sectors. Following a decade in financial and advisory roles, he was appointed CEO of Virgin Retail UK in 1988, and following a turnaround of that business, held increasingly senior roles until appointed CEO of the global Virgin Entertainment Group in 1996. In 1999, Simon was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive of Hamleys plc where he completed a successful restructuring and subsequent sale of the company in 2003. Simon then specialised in value creation roles in both quoted companies and private-equity-backed businesses. He has chaired many well-known consumer businesses, including Majestic Wine, Mitchells & Butlers, Bathstore.com, and Superquinn. Simon is Chairman of The Light Cinemas (Holdings) Limited and Blue Diamond Limited and an independent Non-executive Director of Camelot UK Lotteries Limited.

Mike joined Bakkavor in 2001 and and was appointed Chief Executive Officer in November 2022, having served as Chief Operating Officer UK since 2014 and as Executive Director since December 2022. With over 33 years’ experience in the food industry including United Biscuits and Heinz, Mike has extensive operational and commercial expertise. Since joining in 2001, he has held various senior operational roles across Bakkavor. He holds a degree from the Polytechnic of Portsmouth.

Ben joined Bakkavor in 2011 as Group Financial Controller and has served as Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director to the Board since 27 December 2020, and his role expanded with the appointment as Asia CEO effective 1 December 2022. Prior to joining Bakkavor, Ben was Assurance and Advisory Director at Ernst & Young LLP. After joining Bakkavor as Group Financial Controller, he then became Head of Strategic Development and in January 2019, he took on responsibility for the US business as President of Bakkavor USA and has successfully transformed the US operations. Ben holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Birmingham.

Jill joined Bakkavor in March 2021 as a Non-executive Director. She is an accomplished general manager with extensive sales, marketing and general management experience across a number of blue-chip companies including Mars, PepsiCo and Premier Foods. Jill brings a depth of understanding of the food industry, spending most of her career in marketing, commercial and general management roles in the food and beverage sector, where she has been involved in both turnaround and growth situations, in a range of branded and own label businesses. Jill is currently a Non-executive Director, Remuneration Committee Chair and member of the Audit and Nomination Committees of Bellway plc and Halfords Group plc and Senior Independent Director and a member of the ESG Committee of Halfords Group plc. Jill is also a Non-executive Director and member of the Remuneration Committee and ESG Committee of C&C Group plc, and Senior Independent Director, Remuneration Committee Chair and a member of the Audit and Nomination Committees of St. Austell Brewery Company Limited.

Sanjeevan joined Bakkavor in August 2021 as a Non-executive Director. He is a highly experienced multi award-winning data and analytics professional with a proven track record of driving customer-centric business transformations through the strategic use of data resulting in EBIT and revenue growth. Sanjeevan has successfully operated across a range of sectors including media, retail, financial services, e-commerce and telecoms. He brings expertise in digital transformation, data and AI (both the science and development of new operating models and organisational structure to leverage the value of data), innovation and culture. Sanjeevan has had exposure to the food and beverage sector through his time consulting with PwC to Bestfoods, and through his time with Dunnhumby working with Tesco. Sanjeevan is currently the Group Chief Data & AI Officer at ITV plc and a Member of the Scholars’ Education Trust.

Umran has served as a Non-executive Director of Bakkavor since September 2020. She is an experienced senior business executive with a general management background and significant expertise in talent and diversity. Umran spent 25 years at PepsiCo Inc., the global food and beverage company, where she held a number of international commercial and functional roles, with her last position being Senior Vice President, Chief Global Diversity and Engagement Officer. From 2010 to 2015, she served as an Independent Non-executive Director on the board of Calbee, Inc, a major Japanese snack foods manufacturer and for eight years until June 2020, was a Future Council Member of the World Economic Forum. She earned her MBA and Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul. Umran is currently a partner at August Leadership, an executive search and leadership advisory firm. She also serves on the board of the International Youth Foundation, Baltimore and BIS Integrated Solutions in Istanbul, Turkey.

Agust is one of the founders of Bakkavor and has served as Chief Executive Officer of Bakkavor from May 2006 to October 2022. He served as Executive Chairman of Bakkavor from 1986, the year the Bakkavor Group was founded, through to May 2006. Agust received his education from the College of Ármúli in Reykjavik, Iceland. Agust currently has no external appointments.

Lydur is one of the founders of Bakkavor. He served as Chief Executive Officer from 1986 to 2006 and Non-executive Chairman from 2006 to 2017. He served as Chairman of Exista from 2006 to 2010. Lydur has unique expertise and insight into the Company’s business as a founder of the Bakkavor Group. He received his education from the Commercial College of Iceland. Lydur currently has no external appointments.

Denis has served as a Non-executive Director of Bakkavor since February 2017. Denis has extensive leadership experience within the retail sector, spending the majority of his career with the McDonald’s Corporation in a variety of senior financial and operational roles before becoming President and Chief Executive Officer of McDonald’s Europe, where he was responsible for changing the image and concept, securing its market-leading position. Denis was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Accor in 2011 where he was responsible for an estate spread across over 90 countries. He left Accor in 2013 to pursue an advisory and portfolio career. Denis is currently a Non-executive Director of Eurostar International Limited, JDE Peet’s, Elior and Expresso House. He is also Vice-Chairman of Pret A Manger, Chairman of PICARD Company Limited and Kellydeli, and a founding partner of investment fund French Food Capital.

Jane has served as a Non-executive Director of Bakkavor since April 2018 and is the Chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee. Jane spent 25 years at Deloitte & Touche LLP, the audit, tax, consulting, enterprise risk and financial advisory services provider, progressing to a Senior Audit Partner working for major corporates. She served as the first female Partner to sit on the Deloitte UK Board, overseeing management strategy, acquisitions, performance against plan and admission of new partners. She was also the manufacturing and industry lead Partner, providing best practice and insights across the Deloitte businesses of tax, auditing, consulting, and corporate finance. Jane left Deloitte in 2011 to build a non-executive portfolio. Jane is currently a Non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee of FirstGroup plc, Non-executive Director, member of the Audit Committee and Chair of the Remuneration Committee of Glanbia plc and the Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee and a member of the Remuneration Committee of TI Fluid Systems plc.

Bob is a senior investment professional with investing and strategic operating experience across the consumer goods, food, manufacturing, technology and services sectors. He has helped management teams drive value creation through investments in innovation, accretive capital investments, new commercial relationships, data and analytics, organisational change and operational optimisation.

From 2008-2018, Bob was principally responsible for private equity investments at The Baupost Group, including the firm’s investments in Arby’s, Archroma, Bakkavor, Central Pacific Bank, Innovia and PDC Brands, among others, aggregating more than $5 billion in total enterprise value. He led an investment team focused on flexible investments in private companies, including majority, minority and joint venture structures, carveouts, turnarounds and recapitalisations, across multiple sectors including consumer, value-add industrials, technology and financial services. He received a B.S. with Honors from Washington & Lee University.

External Appointments:
Bob is the Founder and Managing Partner of LongRange Capital L.L.C. and a director of BL Memorial Holdings, L.L.C.

Annabel joined Bakkavor as Group General Counsel & Company Secretary in June 2019. Annabel has held senior legal positions in a number of companies including Britvic plc and Ladbrokes plc. She was the Group General Counsel and an Executive Committee member at Ladbrokes plc. She trained and began her career in private practice in the City of London at the multinational law firm SJ Berwin LLP. Annabel obtained her post-graduate law degree at The University of Law, UK and qualified as a solicitor (England and Wales) in March 2005. She is also a Chartered Company Secretary (ACIS) and an alumna of London Business School. Annabel is currently a Non-executive Director of Edinburgh Investment Trust plc.