June 2015

New CEO for Whitworths secured by Drayton Partners

Drayton Partners are delighted to announce that with their support Whitworths have secured a new Chief Executive Officer.Mark Fairweather will join the business in July from the ABF group. Peter Thornton, Chairman of Whitworths commented:

"Mark has had a long and distinguished career at Associated British Foods, having most recently spent the last 7 years as Managing Director of the Allied Milling and Baking Division. He has successfully led and transformed the Allied business over an extended period in what is widely recognised as one of the most competitive categories within the UK food industry. Mark′s track record of delivering growth in a large, complex, multi-site business supplying a wide range of customers with both branded and own label products will hugely benefit Whitworths into the future".

Drayton Partners led a comprehensive search process across the European food industry on behalf of Equistone, Whitworths private equity owners.

Rob Seery Director at Drayton Partners, commented:

"Mark fought off strong competition to secure this CEO role. There was a lot of interest, from extremely high quality candidates, in this role. Whitworths has an exciting future ahead of it - candidates were attracted to its strong foundations, very capable people and the categories within which it operates".