Bakers Basco has appointed baking industry veteran Simon Devereux as chairman.
Devereux brings over 30 years’ experience within the food and baking industry, with a career spanning a range of operational, supply chain and general management roles in addition to board level positions at companies including RHM, Premier Foods, Promise Gluten Free and Modern Baker.
Notably, he was chief operations officer for Hovis for more than two years before taking up the role of transformation director. During this time, he was accountable for all supply aspects of the business including manufacturing, logistics, procurement, technical and supply chain planning, as well as leading numerous transformation and M&A projects.
It was at this time that Devereux was introduced to Bakers Basco when he was the Hovis representative for three years whilst leading strategic logistics projects and joint operations with other members of the scheme.
His appointment comes at a time when Bakers Basco has become more streamlined and strategic in how it runs operations and investigations to recover equipment that ends up outside the bakery supply chain – under the stewardship of Paul Empson, general manager, Bakers Basco since 2020 and former chairman Joe Street, who is stepping down to retire.
Earlier this year it reported a big boost in the number of bread baskets recovered since 2019/20 and appointed ex-police office Stacey Brown to head up its national investigations team.
“I’ve always had such an interesting in working with Bakers Basco over the years and had previously said to the board that if ever the opportunity arose to be involved in the business again, to give me a call. That’s exactly what happened,” said Devereux.
“What I have inherited is a business that is very stable and well established in terms of the day-to-day operational performance but now my task will be to look at how, from a strategic perspective, we can develop and move this on.”
“Our customers and users evolve all the time; the food and baking industry is a fast-moving and highly competitive industry facing many challenges – post Covid-19 fallout, a cost-of-living crisis and commodity pricing – which will only continue to prove more challenging. Environmental sustainability and the need for cost effectiveness go hand in hand, so I look forward to building and improving on the great strides Bakers Basco has taken in this area,” he added.
Bakers Basco was set up in 2006 by five of the UK’s leading plant bakers including Allied Bakeries, Fine Lady Bakeries, Frank Roberts & Sons, Hovis and Warburtons to buy, manage and police the use of a standard basket for the delivery of bread to retailers and wholesalers.
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