Unilever personal care chief role to expand after reshuffle
Unilever group vice-president of personal care Simon Clift is expected to see his role expand to include home care and foods, following the structural changes announced at the end of last month.
Homecare, personal care and foods have been combined under a single category structure under the leadership of Vindi Banga, currently president of foods, who is to take on the role of president of home and personal care in addition to foods.
Ralph Kugler, president of home and personal care, is stepping down after a 29-year career with the company. Unilever says it has not yet decided the marketing structure reporting to Banga but confirms there will be changes. It is thought Clift’s new role would fit into the new corporate structure at a level immediately beneath Banga.
But sources close to the situation suggest the vice-president of homecare Keith Weed could be reviewing his position with the company, should a reorganisation result in his role being diminished.
It is unclear how Sylvia Lagnado, group vice-president of savoury foods, and Alan Jope, group vice-president of spreads and dressings might be affected by such a restructure.
Unilever says changes are unlikely in the very short-term, given that the marketing structure of the company was one of the first things tackled by group chief executive Patrick Cescau when he embarked on the One Unilever programme, launched in 2004 to streamline and unify the company and create a more competitive business.
