UK beverage group AG Barr has appointed former Sainsbury’s finance chief Darren Shapland as its new board chair with immediate effect.
In a statement today (1 September), the Irn-Bru owner said Shapland has also been made an independent non-executive director.
The move places Shapland on the group's remuneration and ESG committees and he will also chair the nomination committee, AG Barr said.
Shapland replaces Susan Barratt, who has been the company's interim non-executive chair since January. Barratt will now return to her previous role as senior independent director.
Euan Sutherland, the CEO of AG Barr, said: “We are incredibly excited to welcome Darren to AG Barr. His wealth of consumer, commercial, and financial expertise will be invaluable as we continue to drive long-term value for our shareholders, build our brand momentum, and execute our growth strategy.”
AG Barr said Shapland has 40 years of “extensive” experience in finance and operations across retail and consumer businesses.
Before joining the company, he was non-executive chair of Hollywood Bowl Group and an independent non-executive director at JD Sports Fashion.
He has also held chair positions at Topps Tiles and Poundland, as well as non-executive director and audit committee chair roles at Ladbrokes and Ferguson.
Apart from Sainsbury's, he also held CFO roles at retailers Carpetright and Superdrug. He was also previously CEO at Carpetright.
In a trading update in August, AG Barr reaffirmed its full-year profit guidance despite supply chain disruptions that weighed on a strong revenue performance in the UK soft-drinks group’s first half.
The company then said it expected revenue for the 26 weeks ended 1 August to be around £246m ($330.8m), up 8% on the same period last year.
It added its core brands, including Irn-Bru, Rubicon and Boost, are “performing strongly”. However, “weakness” from Funkin and Barr Brands partly offset the gains elsewhere.
AG Barr will report its financial results for the first half of its financial year on 29 September.
