Convenience food and cakes and desserts manufacturer Greencore Group has appointed Eoin Tonge as chief financial officer and as a director of the group with effect from 3 October 2016.

Tonge will replace Alan Williams who will be leaving Greencore after nearly six years to become CFO of Travis Perkins. Williams will step down as a director of the group, but will continue to work closely with Tong until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition period.

Tonge joined Greencore in 2006 and, since 2014, has been managing director of the company Grocery Division in the UK. He will be replaced in that role by Nigel Blakey, who is currently the division’s finance director.

Greencore chief executive Patrick Coveney said: “We are delighted to welcome Eoin to the board of Greencore and the role of CFO. In addition to his strong operations leadership of our Grocery  Division, Eoin has played a critical role in shaping our group’s food-to-go strategy, led the delivery of the Uniq acquisition, executed several key acquisitions in the US and spent nearly four years as a leader in our central finance team.

“As new managing director of Greencore Grocery, Nigel Blakey is a thoughtful, widely respected leader in our group with a deep knowledge of all aspects of this division.”

In July Greencore acquired The Sandwich Factory from sausage firm Cranswick.