Avon UK president to step down

Avon UK president Paul Southworth is leaving in June after 25 years at the door-to-door cosmetics giant.

He is being replaced by Sandy Mountford, who is currently president of Avon’s North American business division.

Southworth announced his plans to retire this week. However, a company spokeswoman says he may still have a future role at Avon.

Southworth started at the company in the Seventies, working his way up through various management roles.

He was appointed president of the UK division, based in North-ampton, in 1984.

He has since been responsible for setting up an Avon crusade against breast cancer, which has so far raised nearly 3m.

Avon launched in Britain in 1959 and was an inspiration to numerous door-to-door companies set up in its wake.

Since Southworth became president, UK sales have risen from 64m to more than 160m. The company operates in more than 100 countries.

Southworth is quoted as saying: “We even sell cosmetics from canoes on the banks of the Amazon.”

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