Derwent Valley Foods md quits

Derwent Valley Foods, maker of Phileas Fogg snacks, is to lose managing director Paul Revell, who leaves next week following differences of opinion with the management of his parent company United Biscuits.

Revell’s replacement will be Neil Mernock, marketing controller nuts at KP. Revell will work for a limited period on special projects with Ian Woodhead, managing director of KP Snacks, of which Derwent Valley is a subsidiary. He will leave the company next spring.

Revell refuses to comment on the issues which have led to management differences but says: “United Biscuits and I are not totally aligned on some issues and, as a consequence of that, I have decided to move on.”

His departure comes after a number of management changes at Derwent. Last month, the company hired Phil Kent, marketing manager for Pillsbury UK’s Mexican food brand Old El Paso, as its head of marketing. He replaces Sarah Burt who left to join sister company KP Snacks in June (MW June 21) as new product development manager.

The division also hired ad agency Publicis to relaunch the Phileas Fogg brand.

United Biscuits restructured its business last December. The KP business was split into four units – crisps, snacks, nuts and Derwent Valley Foods.