Premier Foods plc has appointed former Dairy Crest finance chief Alastair Murray to replace Mark Moran as chief financial officer.

Moran, who joined Premier in 2011, has helped spear-head the UK group’s efforts to strengthen its balance sheet, including 2012’s major refinancing. He was asked by CEO Gavin Darby to commit to a further three years at Premier, but was unwilling to do so.

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Premier emphasised Murray is well suited to the task ahead at Premier. In his most recent role, Murray helped to lead a “significant restructuring to simplify the business” at Dairy Crest, Premier emphasised. 

Premier, owner of brands including Hovis bread and Mr Kipling cakes, has itself embarked on a process to simplify the business by consolidating its supply base, rationalising SKUs and stripping complexity out of its manufacturing network.

Click here for Katy Askew’s thoughts on the appointment.

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