Alliance Pharma adds operations chief to management team

Alliance Pharma announced the appointment of a chief operating officer on Thursday, in a bid to strengthen its executive team and board of directors, and to support the delivery of its growth strategy focussed on consumer health.

The AIM-traded firm also updated the market on the return to the business of chief executive officer Peter Butterfield.

It said Jeyan Heper would join Alliance as COO and a board member on 1 February.

Heper had a “strong” track record of strategic leadership in the international consumer health market, the company said, overseeing a number of global programmes and driving growth in flagship brands.

In his career of more than 24 years, he had held senior executive roles in brand management at Procter & Gamble and marketing at Danone Group.

Additionally, Heper was president and general manager of Ansell's sexual wellness global business before it was spun-out to become Lifestyles Healthcare - a private equity and pharma-owned company where he became CEO.

During his tenure as chief executive at Lifestyles Healthcare, Heper delivered “significant growth” through market and category expansion, building a strong e-commerce platform in China and the US, and improving operational effectiveness.

Most recently, he worked as head of global transformation at British American Tobacco, leading the development and execution of the strategy to broaden the company's reach into non-nicotine consumer products.

Following BAT's minority investment in the Nasdaq-listed Organigram, Heper became a member of the Organigram board.

The Alliance board said the role of COO would bolster its operational capabilities, identify growth opportunities, and drive its strategy to expand its consumer health presence further.

CEO Peter Butterfield, meanwhile, was expected to start his return to the business in the first quarter on a “phased basis”.

To assist his return and to strengthen further the executive team, the board said it had decided to appoint an interim CEO, who was expected to join the board.

The interim CEO would focus primarily on strategic delivery and external stakeholder engagement, was expected to remain with Alliance throughout the upcoming appeal hearing at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, which was set to start on 5 June, and would hand back to Butterfield after that.

It said the recruitment process was “well underway”, with a further update set to be provided in due course.

“I am delighted that Jeyan is joining Alliance - the company has grown and developed significantly since I became chair, building an international footprint with a strong portfolio of consumer healthcare brands,” said board chair David Cook.

“The appointment of a COO will ensure that the organisational structure is appropriate for the future of the business.

“Jeyan will bring significant additional expertise from the global consumer healthcare sector to keep the company well-positioned to deliver continued growth over the longer term.”

At 1150 GMT, shares in Alliance Pharma were up 0.68% at 59.6p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.