Member Article

New purchasing manager and director appointment at Fairway Foodservice

Fairway Foodservice has made two new appointments to its management team.

The 18-member buying group has appointed Keith Hepton as its new purchasing manager for frozen, while Steve Jeavons, purchasing manager for grocery, has been made a director.

Keith, who has more than 40 years’ experience within the food retail and manufacturing sectors, has previously held senior management roles for Asda, Kwiksave, Co-operative Retail Trading Group (CRTG) and Greencore.

He said: “I am delighted to be joining the Fairway team, which I believe is a great business with an equally great future.

“I am relishing the challenges that lie ahead and sincerely look forward to making a positive contribution to its future success.”

Keith replaces former purchasing manager for frozen and director Kevin Denyer, who leaves in February to join e-foods as purchasing director after 13 years with Fairway Foodservice.

Chris Binge, Fairway Foodservice chief executive, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Keith to the team, who has a very strong track record in the food industry.

“He has held senior management positions within food retail, which will set him in good stead for his new role within the foodservice sector.

“In a very short period of time Keith has shown his ambition and hunger to create added benefits for our members, and we think he will prove to be a real asset to the team.

“We also wish Kevin every success in his new role, and thank him for his work for Fairway Foodservice. Whilst we are sad to see him leave, it is with appreciation of a job well done and a belief that he will continue his successful career at e-foods.”

Fairway Foodservice’s Steve Jeavons has also been promoted to a director’s role with the buying group. Steve, who joined Fairway Foodservice in August 2011, has a wealth of experience in both purchasing and sales, having previously worked for Makro, McCormick, Uniq and Anchor.

Chris Binge said: “In Steve’s three years as purchasing manager, he has made a big impact at both a member and supplier level.

“He took over our ambient products category when it was in its infancy, and has done a fantastic job in co-ordinating member purchasing and introducing more than 300 new own label lines.

“He is respected by suppliers and members alike for his enthusiasm and professionalism, has generated real additional profit for Fairway members and helped suppliers achieve significant sales growth.”

Fairway Foodservice is a buying and marketing organisation that operates on behalf of wholesalers based in the UK, Ireland and Spain. Founded in 1984 by five frozen food wholesale distribution companies, it has grown from a collective turnover of £7m in 1984 to £498m in 2013.

Members benefit from access to a range of more than 560 quality bench-marked own-label products, collective buying power across all product groups significant marketing support, technical advice and support and subscription discounts to the Erudus One product specification database.

For more information on Fairway Foodservice, visit www.fairwayfoodservice.com, or follow Fairway Foodservice on Twitter @fairwayfood.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sam Harris .