Conviviality announces new board members

Jennifer Laing has been appointed to the board of the UK alcoholic wholesaler, Conviviality, as a non-executive director.  Serving consumers through the on-trade and through its franchise retail estate, Conviviality has also announced that Mark Aylwin is joining the board as managing director Conviviality Direct.

Jennifer brings extensive brand and marketing expertise to the board, having spent over 30 years in the advertising industry. She is currently non-executive director and chairman of the remuneration committee of Premier Foods, where she has been for four years. Jennifer retired from the board of InterContinental Hotels Group on May 6, 2016, where she was a non-executive director for 10 years. She has recently become a trustee of the IHG Foundation, an independent charity that works to set the foundations for stronger, healthier, more prosperous communities around the world.

Jennifer spent 16 years with Saatchi & Saatchi, most recently as chief executive officer and chairman of North America and prior to this, was chairman of the London office. She is a fellow of the Marketing Society and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and was, until May 2014, a non-executive director of Hudson Global.

Mark joined the group in January 2016 as managing director of Matthew Clark, having worked in the food and drinks industry for over 35 years, holding senior positions with a range of organisations including Booker Group, Blueheath, Safeway and Musgrave Group.

The directors believe that Mark has been instrumental in helping the group realise benefits from the Matthew Clark acquisition and it is anticipated that he will continue this work as they complete the acquisition of Bibendum PLB, which is conditional on the company¹s general meeting on May 19, 2016, as announced on May 3, 2016.

David Adams, chairman of Conviviality, says: "I am delighted to welcome Jennifer to our board as non-executive director. Jennifer¹s in-depth knowledge of branding, marketing and advertising, as well as her experience on the board of a global hotel group with a large franchisee base, further diversifies the Board¹s skill-set. We look forward to her insight as we continue to grow both our franchisee network and our on-trade business, and become a more valuable partner to our suppliers in promoting their brands across the UK.

"I am also pleased that Mark is joining the board as managing director Conviviality Direct. Mark has been a great addition to the management team since he joined Conviviality in January 2016 and I look forward to continuing to benefit from his experience as the Group develops."

23 May 2016 - Rebecca Sterritt Paragraph Publishing, content manager