Hotel Chocolat appoints new chair, finance chief

Specialist confectioner Hotel Chocolat announced the appointment of Stephen Alexander as its non-executive chair on Wednesday, effective from 5 May.

The AIM-traded company said Alexander had more than 20 years of experience in holding numerous chair roles in public and private equity-backed companies, primarily in the consumer sector.

His previous experience included Dairy Crest, Immediate Media, Rhubarb Foods, EMI Group, Odeon Cinemas, AWAS Aircraft Leasing, and Meridien Hotels.

Alexander was last an operating partner with private equity group OpCapita, and had chaired the charities Look Ahead and Employment Autism.

He did not currently hold any shares in Hotel Chocolat.

Andrew Gerrie, the current chair of the board, would step down, with his resignation effective from 4 May.

Additionally, the firm said Jon Akehurst would join the company as its chief financial officer and an executive board director on 15 May.

The board said Akehurst is a chartered accountant with a career that included management and leadership roles with General Mills, Mars, Aggreko, and most recently finance chief of Terumo Corporation's Aortic division.

It said he had extensive experience across branded goods, manufacturing, and international development.

“Stephen's significant experience chairing companies in the food manufacturing and retail space in the UK and overseas will be invaluable as we take the business through its next chapter of growth,” said co-founder and chief executive officer Angus Thirlwell.

“With Jon joining our team too, we have materially boosted the leadership and board firepower.

“I would like to thank Andrew Gerrie, our outgoing chair, for all he has brought to Hotel Chocolat during his tenure as we scaled from brand revenues of £80m to £200m.”

At 1117 BST, shares in Hotel Chocolat Group were down 2.29% at 171p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.