Highland Spring Group has announced that chief executive Les Montgomery will retire at the end of the year.
Instead, Montgomery will become a non-executive director of the company.
Montgomery joined the company in 1985, having held the position of finance director before his appointment to his current role in 2007.
According to the company, he has played a pivotal role in establishing the group as a leading natural source water producer, during his time, he spearheaded the acquisitions of Speyside Glenlivet and the water division of Greencore Group.
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He also achieved his ambition to double the size of the business, which includes turnover, from £50 million to £100 million.
“It has been a privilege to lead the company for the last 14 years and I would like to thank all the employees, past and present, of Highland Spring Group for their commitment and support,” Montgomery said.
“I am very proud of everything we have achieved together. I look forward to continuing to make a positive contribution to the business as a non-executive director.”
Chief commercial officer, Simon Oldham and chief operating officer, Mark Steven will step up to be joint managing directors of the business with immediate effect.
Oldham has over 25 years of FMCG commercial experience having begun his career at Procter & Gamble (P&G) and has held previous roles in sales, marketing and commercial planning functions including at Whyte & Mackay where he ran the UK commercial team as managing director.
He joined Highland Spring Group in 2010, originally as sales director.
He will remain responsible for leading the company’s sales, marketing, export, technical and supply chain teams.
Steven joined the company as group finance director in 2013, having previously been chief financial officer with VION Food Group UK.
He has worked across a number of different industries both in the UK and overseas.
He was appointed chief operating officer in November 2018 and will continue to have overall responsibility for the management and setting of strategic direction for the operations, procurement, finance, IT, legal and HR functions.
Commenting on the announcement, Oldham and Steven added: “On behalf of Highland Spring Group, we would like to thank Les for his dedication and the huge contribution he has made to the business over the last 36 years.
“We are delighted to be leading the business at this exciting time as we enter the next chapter in the story of this unique company.”
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