P&G sanpro boss to head UK/Ireland

Procter & Gamble has appointed its European sanpro boss Chris de Lapuente as managing director for the UK and Ireland, overseeing laundry, cleaning, paper, beverage and food products.

Procter & Gamble has appointed its European sanpro boss Chris de Lapuente as managing director for the UK and Ireland, overseeing laundry, cleaning, paper, beverage and food products.

He replaces Paul Polman, who moves to P&G’s Cincinnati headquarters as group vice-president for North American laundry and cleaning products (MW June 25).

De Lapuente, 35, first worked at P&G’s Newcastle office between 1983 and 1991. He then transferred to Spain as marketing director for laundry and cleaning and in 1995 was appointed managing director for Sanpro based Germany.

P&G has recently brought a number of products to market such as soft drink Sunny Delight. Managers are being encouraged to move away from P&G’s traditional ad formula showing product benefits to more “customer-friendly” ads, such as the Fairy Liquid campaign through Grey.