After 17 years as CEO, and latterly chairman, Paul Wells’ role is to be split and he will take the role of chairman for Charles Wells Ltd. Justin Phillimore, currently the managing director of the brewing and brands division will become chief executive of Charles Wells, taking responsibility at the end of September. Peter Wells, currently managing director of Charles Wells UK pubs, will become the commercial director of Charles Wells, with responsibility for all sales and marketing across brewing and retail.
Announcing the changes Paul Wells said “I’ve had the pleasure of working with a tremendous group of people at Charles Wells and seen them work together to build the business we have today. I am delighted to be able to hand over the chief executive role to Justin Phillimore to drive the next chapter of development of Charles Wells. As chairman I will remain closely involved but also focus on new initiatives for our family companies.”
“Peter has extensive experience in our pubs business” continued Paul Wells “and the role of commercial director enables him to bring his retail insights to a wider audience. He will provide the leadership that will help our marketing and sales support be as effective as possible for all our customers. Peter will be one of three members of the Wells family still involved in the business on a daily basis.”
Justin Phillimore added “Paul has contributed so much to our business and, indeed, the industry and I have valued his wise counsel and pragmatic approach and will continue to draw on this in his role as Chairman. I’m excited about taking the chief executive role for our combined business operations and looking forward to working with the outstanding teams we have here. We have a well-developed strategy which includes driving our managed house operations in the UK and France, working with our partners to continue development of our excellent beer portfolio and providing a commitment to the highest quality service for our customers”
The changes will be implemented from September 2015 and other members of the Board will remain unchanged. They are Anthony Fryer (Finance Director), Andrea Holton (France & HR Director), Tony Mair, Paul Rawlinson and Bob Ivell (Non-Executive Directors)
For immediate release: Thursday 3rd September 2015
For further information contact: Kate Hempsall – Head of Communications, Charles Wells Tel: 07976 941958 kate.hempsall@charleswells.
Kelly May – Communications Executive, Charles Wells Tel: 07970 117923 kelly.may@charleswells.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
Charles Wells was established by its eponymous founder in 1876 when the merchant sea captain returned to shore and bought a brewery, coal yard and 36 pubs. It is based in Bedford and has grown to be the largest independently owned brewery in the UK with beers including the Wells, Young’s, Courage and McEwan’s ranges in its portfolio. It works with world beer partners including Estrella Damm, Kirin and Erdinger and owns Cockburn & Campbell wine merchants. Charles Wells operates almost 200 tenanted and leased pubs and a growing managed estate of four pubs across Central England. It also runs 11 managed venues across France.
Paul Wells is a direct descendent of Charles Wells and joined the sales team in 1983. After learning all aspects of the business he became Sales Director in 1991, then Managing Director in 1998. He took the additional responsibility as Chairman when previous Chairman, Alan Jackson, retired from the post in 2011. He plays an active role in industry associations and was Chairman of the Independent Family Brewers of Britain from 2005-2012. He will retain his roles as Chairman of Charles Wells Ltd and of another Wells-family owned company Muntons plc.
Justin Phillimore joined the business as Finance Director in 2006 before being appointed as Managing Director of the Brewing division of Charles Wells in 2012. He had previously worked on strategy and change management for a GE joint-venture and prior to that was Regional Finance Director for Central and Eastern Europe for Seagram, based in Prague.
Kate Hempsall
Head of Communications
Charles Wells
T: +44 (0)1234 279209
M: +44 (0)7976 941958
Ext: 2209
http://www.charleswells.co.uk
http://www.charleswellspubs.