29
April 2024
Ultimate
Products plc
("Ultimate Products", or "the Group")
Directorate
Change
The Board of Ultimate Products, the
owner of a number of leading homeware brands including Salter (the
UK's oldest houseware brand, est.1760) and Beldray (est.1872),
announces that it has been notified by James ("Jim") McCarthy of
his intention to step down as Non-Executive Chair on 31 July 2024.
The Board is pleased to confirm that Christine Adshead, who has
been an Independent Non-Executive Director of Ultimate Products
since September 2020, will replace Jim as Non-Executive Chair on
that date.
Jim was appointed Chair of Ultimate
Products in 2017 prior to the Group's IPO and has played an
instrumental role in successfully steering the business through its
first seven years as a listed company. The Group has benefitted
enormously from Jim's vast experience in the fast-moving retail
industry, given his previous positions as CEO of Poundland Group
plc, Managing Director of Sainsbury's Convenience, and other senior
roles in the sector.
Christine is a former Partner at
PwC, where she spent nearly 20 years providing transaction advisory
services across a range of corporate activities and a variety of
sectors, including retail and consumer goods. She was PwC's London
region private equity leader, as well as being a national leader
for mid-tier private equity. Christine was also an elected member
of the PwC Supervisory Board, the governance body for PwC in the
UK, which represents the interests of over 900 Partners and is
responsible for providing constructive challenge to PwC's UK
Executive Board. Christine is a Non-Executive Director and Board
Member of Hill Dickinson LLP, an international commercial law firm
headquartered in Liverpool.
Jim
McCarthy, the outgoing Chair of Ultimate Products,
said:
"It has been a privilege to be Ultimate Products' Chair over
the last seven years, and I have thoroughly enjoyed playing a part
in the ongoing success of this superb business. Having worked with
Christine for over three years now, I know that she will make an
excellent Chair of Ultimate Products given her understanding of and
support for the Group's culture, strategy and people. She is an
immensely experienced and well-liked individual, and I am confident
that she will help our newly appointed CEO, Andrew Gossage, and the
wider team, deliver Ultimate Products' next stage of
growth."
Christine Adshead, the incoming Chair of Ultimate Products,
said:
"I
am thrilled to be taking over from Jim, who has done an outstanding
job as Chair of Ultimate Products since joining the business in
2017. Everyone connected with Ultimate Products owes him a huge
debt of gratitude for the leadership, counsel and expertise that he
has provided to the Group during his tenure. I am looking forward
to carrying on his excellent work at what is a hugely exciting time
for Ultimate Products as it pursues its ambitious growth strategy
to become the world's best branded consumer goods
business."
For more information, please
contact:
Ultimate Products +44 (0) 161 627
1400
Andrew Gossage, CEO
Chris Dent, CFO
Shore Capital +44 (0) 20 7408
4090
Mark Percy
Malachy McEntyre
David Coaten
Harry Davies-Ball
Isobel Jones
Cavendish Capital Markets Limited +
44 (0)20 7220 0500
Carl Holmes (Corporate
Finance)
Matt Goode (Corporate
Finance)
Abigail Kelly (Corporate
Finance)
Charlie Combe (ECM)
Powerscourt +44 (0) 207 250
1446
Rob Greening
Sam Austrums
Oliver Banks
Notes to Editors
Ultimate Products is the owner of a
number of leading homeware brands including Salter (the UK's oldest
houseware brand, established in 1760) and Beldray (a laundry, floor
care, heating and cooling brand that was established in 1872).
According to its market research, nearly 80% of UK households own
at least one of the Group's products.
Ultimate Products sells to over 300
retailers across 38 countries, and specialises in five product
categories: Small Domestic Appliances; Housewares; Laundry; Audio;
and Heating and Cooling. Other brands include Progress (cookware
and bakeware), Kleeneze (laundry and floorcare), Petra (small
domestic appliances) and Intempo (audio).
The Group's products are sold to a
broad cross-section of both large national and international
multi-channel retailers as well as smaller national retail chains,
incorporating discount retailers, supermarkets, general retailers
and online retailers.
Founded in 1997, Ultimate Products
employs over 370 staff, a significant number of whom have joined
via the Group's graduate development scheme, and is headquartered
in Oldham, Greater Manchester, where it has design, sales,
marketing, buying, quality assurance, support functions and
warehouse facilities across two sites. Manor Mill, the Group's head
office, includes a spectacular 20,000 sq ft showroom that showcases
each of its brands. In addition, the Group has an office and
showroom in Guangzhou, China and in Paris, France.
Please note that Ultimate Products
is not the owner of Russell Hobbs. The company currently has
licence agreements in place granting it an exclusive licence to use
the "Russell Hobbs" trademark for cookware and laundry (NB this
does not include Russell Hobbs electrical appliances).
For further information, please
visit www.upplc.com.