Sir Peter Gershon
Chairman
Became Chairman on 23 July 2009 after joining the Board in February 2009. Formerly Chairman of Premier Farnell plc, Chief Executive of the Office of Government Commerce, Managing Director of Marconi Electronic Systems and a member of the GEC plc Board. Currently Chairman of National Grid plc and a member of the UK government's Efficiency Board, the Advisory Board of the UK Defence Academy, and the Court and Council of Imperial College.
Javed Ahmed
Chief Executive
Joined the Group as Chief Executive on 1 October 2009 from Reckitt Benckiser plc. Started his career with Procter & Gamble and then spent five years with Bain & Co. Joined Benckiser (later Reckitt Benckiser plc) in 1992. Subsequently held a number of senior positions, both in the UK and internationally, including Senior Vice President, Northern Europe; President, North America; Executive Vice President, North America, Australia and New Zealand; and Executive Vice President, Europe.
Tim Lodge
Chief Financial Officer
Joined the Group in 1988 and joined the Board in December 2008 as Group Finance Director. Has held a number of senior operational and financial roles, both in the UK and internationally, including Managing Director of Zambia Sugar; Group Financial Controller; Finance Director of the Food & Industrial Ingredients, Europe division; and Director of Investor Relations. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. In June 2010 his title was changed to Group Financial Officer.
Liz Airey
Independent non-executive director
Joined the Board in January 2007. Formerly Finance Director of Monument Oil and Gas plc (1990-1999). Currently Chairman of the JP Morgan European Fledgeling Investment Trust PLC and the Unilever UK Pension Fund, Senior Independent Director of Jupiter Investment Management, and a non-executive director of Dunedin Enterprise Investment Trust PLC.
William Camp
Independent non-executive director
Joined the Board on 1 May 2010. Worked for 22 years for Archer Daniels Midland Company, before retiring in 2007, and held a variety of management positions including Executive Vice President, Asia Strategy; Executive Vice President, Processing; and Senior Vice President, Global Oil Seeds, Cocoa and Wheat Milling. Based in the USA and currently serves on the boards of Chiquita Brands International Inc, Grain Storage Inc and Oasis Foods Company.
Evert Henkes
Independent non-executive director
Joined the Board in December 2003. Worked for Shell for 30 years before retiring in 2003 and held a number of senior management positions in Europe and Asia Pacific culminating in Chief Executive of Shell Chemicals in 1998. Currently a non-executive director of Outokumpu OYJ, Air Products and Chemicals Inc, and SembCorp Industries Ltd.
Douglas Hurt
Independent non-executive director
Joined the Board on 10 March 2010. A Chartered Accountant, he is currently Finance Director of IMI plc. Before joining IMI plc in 2006, he held a number of financial and operational roles, including US and European senior management positions, at GlaxoSmithKline.
Dr Ajai Puri
Independent non-executive director
Ajai Puri has a PhD in Food Science from the University of Maryland, USA and a MBA in Marketing from Rollins College, Florida, USA. He was President, Research, Development and Product Integrity and a member of the Executive Board of Koninklijke Numico N.V. from 2003 to 2007. From 1981 to 2003, Ajai held various management positions with The Coca-Cola Company, culminating in Senior Vice President Technical, The Minute Maid Company. He is based in the Netherlands and currently has a portfolio of directorships, serving on the supervisory board of Nutreco N.V, a global animal nutrition and aquaculture company, and on the Boards of Barry Callebaut AG, a leading manufacturer of high-quality cocoa and chocolate products, and Britannia Industries Limited, India’s largest independent food group and foremost consumer food brand.
Ajai is the Chairman of the Research Advisory Group and a member of the CR, Remuneration and Nominations Committees.
Robert Walker
Senior Independent director
Joined the Board in January 2006. He spent over 30 years with Procter & Gamble, McKinsey and finally, PepsiCo, where he was responsible for the company’s beverage operations in Europe, Middle East and Africa. He is currently Chairman of Travis Perkins PLC and Americana International Holdings Limited; he has also served on a number of FTSE 100/250 boards, including Wolseley, Severn Trent, BAA, Signet, WH Smith PLC and Thomson Travel.