Pukka Pies has named Lee Birmingham as head of its UK and international foodservice business.

In his new role, Birmingham will oversee growth of Pukka Pies’ foodservice offer, which accounts for about half the brand’s £45 million revenue. His key focus will be building and developing relationships with customers.

Birmingham has previously worked for Cadbury UK/Kraft Foods and Symington’s, and has experience in foodservice, convenience, B2B and sales. 

“There is a huge opportunity to grow the Pukka Pies brand within the foodservice channel and, as the market changes, we need to continue to lead that change by ensuring we have the right range in the right format for the right channels,” said Birmingham, adding that the brand’s new Veggie Tikka Masala product was an example of this.

“I am really keen to begin this journey as soon as possible and I look forward to speaking with and meeting all of our key customers over the next few months.”

Six months ago, new CEO Deborah Ewan took the reins at the business, which recently reported that it had seen a slight increase in turnover, although rising costs had contributed to a drop in profits.