The chief executive of Tate & Lyle, the £1.5bn London-listed food ingredients group, is preparing to step down after eight years at the helm.
MEZIESBLOG has learnt that the company has been working with headhunters for several months to identify a successor to Nick Hampton, who joined as finance chief in 2014.
Industry sources said that Mr Hampton could step down as soon as this year, with an announcement about the identity of his replacement possible before the summer.
Mr Hampton has presided over a reshaping of Tate & Lyle’s business, although it offloaded the historic sugar business with which its brand was synonymous four years before he joined the company.
Tate & Lyle’s operations are now oriented more towards sugar reduction, having recently acquired CP Kelco, a producer of pectin, speciality gums and other nature-based ingredients.
It said the combined group created “a leader in mouthfeel”, with Tate & Lyle employing more than 5,000 employees in 38 countries.
Its London-listed shares have, however, struggled, with the stock price down by nearly a third over the last year.
In October 2024, the Financial Times reported that Advent International, the private equity group, was preparing a takeover bid for Tate & Lyle that would have exceeded its share price at the time of close to 800p.
An offer failed to materialise, and Tate & Lyle shares were trading on Tuesday at around 365p.
A Tate & Lyle spokesman declined to comment.
Discover more from MEZIESBLOG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.