UB promotes marketer to md role at McVitie’s

Gary Biggs, a marketing director of United Biscuits subsidiary Ross Young’s, is being promoted to the new role of director of McVitie’s Cake Company.

Biggs replaces Hugh McPherson, who moved across to become director of the nuts division at KP, which has been split into four separate units.

The general management posts are equivalent to managing director positions. They entail responsibility for profit and loss, manufacturing, marketing and new product development.

Biggs takes up his post at the end of this month. At Ross Young’s he was marketing director of seafood.

His departure is the latest in a series of changes at UB, following the appointment of Malcolm Little as UK chief executive. The restructure followed the sale by UB of most of its salty snack business in the US and the sale of its Keebler’s cookie and cracker business.

The company used the proceeds to cut debt and gearing which had risen to more than 600m and 93 per cent in July last year but it was criticised for selling the cookie business at a discount.