Samworth Brothers appoints Charles Noble as new CFO

Samworth Brothers, the British food manufacturing giant, which owns household name brands such as Ginsters and Soreen, has appointed a new chief financial officer to replace retiring Steve Bailey. Mr Bailey was with Samworth Brothers for five years.

Charles Noble will take the mantle as CFO, along with a place on the executive board, at the beginning of 2024.

Mr Noble has a background in finance in other food manufacturers, such as his most recent post as CFO of AB Sugar.

CEO Hugo Mahoney said: "With his own sense of humour and personable style, Steve moved us strongly forward in areas such as forecasting and planning, cash management, risk and commercial analysis, as well as providing leadership to IT and other support teams. We will be sorry to see him go, and he leaves with our very best wishes for the future."

Mr Bailey will be retiring after a strong run at Samworth Brothers. The latest results posted for the year ending 31 December saw a 21% increase in revenues to £1.4bn and an equal boost in pre-tax profits to £20.5m. This is despite a difficult year of inflation and volatile supply chains.

A spokeswoman said: “The food industry saw significant cost increases throughout 2022. We worked hard to mitigate the impact of inflation through dialogue with customers, price recovery mechanisms, operating efficiencies and collaboration with suppliers.

Despite this backdrop, the business remained resilient. Trading conditions remain tough in 2023 with further cost inflation and consumers impacted by a difficult cost of living crisis. However, the business continues to progress strongly and is committed to significant capital investment for expansion over the next two or three years."