Board of directors
Martin G Adamson
Non-executive director (age 67)
Appointed a director on 11 October 1999 and Chairman on 5 December 2002. He was a senior partner of KPMG and a member of that firm’s board until 1996. He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland.
George G Weston
Executive director (age 42)
George Weston is Chief Executive. He is a graduate of New College Oxford and has an MBA from Harvard Business School. In his former roles as Managing Director of Westmill Foods, Allied Bakeries and George Weston Foods Ltd (Australia) he has been a member of the ABF board since 1999. He took up his current appointment in April 2005.
John G Bason
Executive director (age 49)
Appointed Finance Director in May 1999, he was previously the finance director of Bunzl plc and is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
WG Galen Weston OC
Non-executive director (age 66)
A director since 1964, he is chairman and president of George Weston Limited, Canada. He is also chairman of Selfridges & Co. Limited and a non-executive director of Wittington Investments Limited.
Jeffery F Harris
Independent non-executive director (age 58)
Appointed a director on 21 May 2003, he is chairman of Filtrona plc. He was non-executive chairman of Alliance UniChem plc until April 2005, having previously held the positions of chief executive and finance director since joining the group in 1985. He is a chartered accountant and is a non-executive director of Bunzl plc and Anzag AG.
Timothy Clarke
Independent non-executive director (age 49)
Appointed a director on 3 November 2004, he has been chief executive of Mitchells & Butlers plc since the demerger from Six Continents PLC in 2003. He joined Bass PLC in 1990 having previously been a partner of Panmure Gordon & Co.
Michael R Alexander
Independent non-executive director (age 58)
Appointed a director on 16 January 2002, he spent his earlier career with BP plc and latterly as chief operating officer of Centrica plc. He is a former chief executive of British Energy Group plc, a former non-executive director of The Energy Savings Trust and current chairman of GT Solar International Inc. He is a fellow of the Chemical, Engineering and Technology, and Gas Engineering Institutions as well as a chartered engineer and scientist.
Rt. Hon. Lord MacGregor of Pulham Market, OBE
Senior independent non-executive director (age 69)
A director since 1994, he was a Member of Parliament from 1974 to 2001, with 15 years in Government and nine in the Cabinet in five different posts, including Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. He is a director of Friends Provident plc, a non-executive member of the supervisory board of DAF Trucks N.V., and a Life Peer since 2001.
Lord Jay of Ewelme GCMG
Independent non-executive director (age 60)
Appointed a director on 1 November 2006, he was British Ambassador to France from 1996 to 2001, Permanent Under Secretary at the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 2002 to 2006, and the Prime Minister’s Personal Representative for the G8 Summits at Gleneagles and St Petersburg in 2005 and 2006. His early career included time at the World Bank in Washington and the British High Commission in New Delhi.
Javier Ferrán
Independent non-executive director (age 50)
Appointed a director on 1 November 2006, he spent his earlier career with Bacardi Group, his last position being president and chief executive officer. He is currently a partner at Lion Capital LLP, a London-based private equity firm. He is a non-executive director of Abbot plc and vice-chairman of William Grant and Sons Limited.