Burton’s Biscuit Company has appointed Ian Deste to the Board in the newly created role of Managing Director UK & Ireland.
Based in the UK, Burton’s is the international biscuit business which produces iconic and market leading brands such as Maryland Cookies and Cadbury biscuits.
It’s CEO, Ben Clarke explained: “Ian is a vital appointment to our business and will be responsible for providing the Strategic Leadership to our Sales and Marketing functions – building our portfolio of great brands while ensuring that Burton’s continues to exceed the expectations of all our customers in creating and sustaining overall category growth.
“Our industry is – as we are all aware – experiencing significant shopper-led change, unprecedented in modern times. When considering the effect of these changes on the Burton’s business, specifically in anticipating how our customers and consumers will expect us to respond to change, we felt it imperative to bring our entire commercial operations together under an experienced leader.
“With Ian’s appointment I believe we are clearly demonstrating our intent in this regard.
Deste has held previous roles in FMCG multinational organisations, most recently group commercial director at Premier Foods and formally vice president of sales and marketing at Coca-Cola Enterprises GB.
His appointment follows the departure of Stuart Wilson, chief commercial officer UK and Ireland, who – in May 2015 – made the decision to leave the company in order to pursue new opportunities across strategy, marketing and business development.
