Greencore appoints Leslie Van de Walle as chair designate

Irish convenience foods group Greencore said on Thursday that it has appointed Leslie Van de Walle as a non-executive director and chair designate.

Van de Walle will join the board as a non-executive director on 1 December. He will succeed present chair Gary Kennedy at the conclusion of the company’s annual general meeting in January next year.

Kennedy, who has been executive chair since 2021, chair since 2013 and a non-executive director since 2008, will retire as chair and from the board on the same date.

Van de Walle is currently chair of Euromoney Institutional Investor and is a non-exec director of HSBC UK Bank. Greencore said his extensive executive career has included serving as group chief executive officer at Rexam, and as executive vice president of Global Retail at Shell.

He also brings many years of food industry experience and knowledge from previous senior management positions at Danone, Cadbury Schweppes and United Biscuits, where he served as CEO.

Kennedy said: "I know that he will provide the board with strong and effective leadership and that he will be a great support to our incoming CEO, Dalton Philips, who has been involved in the process and welcomes Leslie's appointment."