Leadership | Wincanton plc

Board of directors

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N Nomination committee
R Remuneration committee
Committee Chair

Dr. Martin Read CBE

Chair

Martin joined Wincanton as Chair in August 2018. He is also chairm of the UK Government’s Senior Salaries Review Body. Martin is a former Chair of Laird plc, the Low Carbon Contracts Company, the Electricity Settlements Company and the Remuneration Consultants Group. He has served on the boards of Lloyd’s, Invensys, Aegis Group, British Airways, Siemens Holdings, Boots, ASDA and the UK Government’s Efficiency and Reform Board. He was Chief Executive of Logica from 1993 to 2007.

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James Wroath

Chief Executive Officer

James was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2019. He was formerly Head of North America with LSG Sky Chefs, the airline catering division of Lufthansa AG, best known as one of the world’s largest airline and rail catering and hospitality companies. Before joining LSG in 2015, James worked for Kuehne + Nagel as the SVP in North America for both Contract Logistics and Overland Transportation, as well as Managing Director in the UK for its Drinks Logistics business. Prior to this, he was Head of Distribution for Scottish & Newcastle plc.

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Gill Barr

Independent Non-executive Director

Gill became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton in September 2017. Gill is currently a Non-executive Director of PayPoint plc and N Brown Group plc. She was previously a Non-executive Director of Morgan Sindall plc from 2004 to 2012 and of McCarthy & Stone plc from 2019 to 2021. She was Group Marketing Director of The Co-operative Group from 2011 to 2014, and was previously Marketing Director of John Lewis. Gill spent seven years at Kingfisher plc where she held a variety of senior marketing, business development and strategy roles.

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Gill Barr

Independent Non-executive Director

Gill became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton in September 2017. Gill is currently a Non-executive Director of PayPoint plc and N Brown Group plc. She was previously a Non-executive Director of Morgan Sindall plc from 2004 to 2012 and of McCarthy & Stone plc from 2019 to 2021. She was Group Marketing Director of The Co-operative Group from 2011 to 2014, and was previously Marketing Director of John Lewis. Gill spent seven years at Kingfisher plc where she held a variety of senior marketing, business development and strategy roles.

Anthony Bickerstaff

Independent Non-executive Director

Anthony Bickerstaff became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton on 1 September 2020 and was appointed Chair of the Audit Committee in March 2021. Until 30 November 2020, Anthony was the Chief Financial Officer of Costain Group plc, the FTSE All-Share smart infrastructure solutions company, a position he held since 2006. Before joining Costain, Anthony held a number of senior management and financial positions in Taylor Woodrow, including Finance Director of Taylor Woodrow Construction Limited. Prior to becoming Finance Director, he was Divisional Operations Director in charge of Taylor Woodrow Group’s PFI projects. Anthony was also a Non-Executive Director & Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee at Low Carbon Contracts Company Limited and Electricity Settlements Company Limited from November 2014 until October 2020.

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Anthony Bickerstaff

Independent Non-executive Director

Anthony Bickerstaff became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton on 1 September 2020 and was appointed Chair of the Audit Committee in March 2021. Until 30 November 2020, Anthony was the Chief Financial Officer of Costain Group plc, the FTSE All-Share smart infrastructure solutions company, a position he held since 2006. Before joining Costain, Anthony held a number of senior management and financial positions in Taylor Woodrow, including Finance Director of Taylor Woodrow Construction Limited. Prior to becoming Finance Director, he was Divisional Operations Director in charge of Taylor Woodrow Group’s PFI projects. Anthony was also a Non-Executive Director & Chair of the Audit & Risk Committee at Low Carbon Contracts Company Limited and Electricity Settlements Company Limited from November 2014 until October 2020.

Debbie Lentz

Independent Non-executive Director

Debbie became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton in June 2019. She is currently President of Global Supply Chain and a member of the executive management team at Electrocomponents plc, a global multi-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions. Debbie was formerly Chief Supply Chain Officer at Toys "R" Us from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that role, she held senior management positions in customer service, logistics, product supply, procurement, manufacturing and IT at Kraft Foods Group, in both North America and Europe, as well as at Nabisco Food Company.

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Debbie Lentz

Independent Non-executive Director

Debbie became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton in June 2019. She is currently President of Global Supply Chain and a member of the executive management team at Electrocomponents plc, a global multi-channel provider of industrial and electronic products and solutions. Debbie was formerly Chief Supply Chain Officer at Toys "R" Us from 2014 to 2017. Prior to that role, she held senior management positions in customer service, logistics, product supply, procurement, manufacturing and IT at Kraft Foods Group, in both North America and Europe, as well as at Nabisco Food Company.

Mihiri Jayaweera

Independent Non-executive Director

Mihiri became a Non-executive Director on 7 April 2020. Until October 2019, Mihiri was Group Head of Strategy and a member of the group executive committee of TP ICAP Group, the FTSE 250 professional intermediaries firm, operating in financial, energy and commodities markets internationally. She was previously a consultant at Trivedi Capital, a private equity investment advisory firm based in London. Between 1993 and 2009, she held positions at Nomura International, Lehman Brothers and UBS Investment Bank.

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Mihiri Jayaweera

Independent Non-executive Director

Mihiri became a Non-executive Director on 7 April 2020. Until October 2019, Mihiri was Group Head of Strategy and a member of the group executive committee of TP ICAP Group, the FTSE 250 professional intermediaries firm, operating in financial, energy and commodities markets internationally. She was previously a consultant at Trivedi Capital, a private equity investment advisory firm based in London. Between 1993 and 2009, she held positions at Nomura International, Lehman Brothers and UBS Investment Bank.

Stewart Oades

Senior Independent Director

Stewart became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton in November 2014 and was appointed as the Senior Independent Director in July 2015. Stewart is currently Chair of Reflex Vehicle Hire Limited and Chair of John Good & Sons Limited. He was formerly a Non-executive Director of Palmer & Harvey plc until January 2017 and also held the positions of President of the Freight Transport Association (FTA) for four years until 2013 and Non-executive Director of MW Brands until March 2016 and Clipper Group plc until 2011. Prior to these appointments, Stewart was Chief Executive of Christian Salvesen plc and held a number of senior posts at Exel plc.

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Stewart Oades

Senior Independent Director

Stewart became a Non-executive Director of Wincanton in November 2014 and was appointed as the Senior Independent Director in July 2015. Stewart is currently Chair of Reflex Vehicle Hire Limited and Chair of John Good & Sons Limited. He was formerly a Non-executive Director of Palmer & Harvey plc until January 2017 and also held the positions of President of the Freight Transport Association (FTA) for four years until 2013 and Non-executive Director of MW Brands until March 2016 and Clipper Group plc until 2011. Prior to these appointments, Stewart was Chief Executive of Christian Salvesen plc and held a number of senior posts at Exel plc.

Executive Management Team

James Wroath

Chief Executive Officer

James was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2019. He was formerly Head of North America with LSG Sky Chefs, the airline catering division of Lufthansa AG, best known as one of the world’s largest airline and rail catering and hospitality companies. Before joining LSG in 2015, James worked for Kuehne + Nagel as the SVP in North America for both Contract Logistics and Overland Transportation, as well as Managing Director in the UK for its Drinks Logistics business. Prior to this, he was Head of Distribution for Scottish & Newcastle plc.

James Clarke

Interim Chief Financial Officer

James joined Wincanton in March 2017 as Group Financial Controller, but has also been Group Transformation Director and Group Operational Finance Director. Previously James was a Finance and Commercial Director with Mitie Group plc, the British facilities management and energy company, where he also held a number of senior group roles including Group Financial Controller. He is also a non-executive of the Building Services Research and Information Association (BSRIA) since 2019. James is a Chartered Accountant.

Sally Austin

Chief People Officer

Sally joined Wincanton in August 2019 as Chief People Officer and a member of the Executive Management Team. Sally was previously the Group HR Director with Costain Group plc, a British technology-based construction and engineering company, where she held a variety of HR roles and became Group HR Director in 2014. Prior to Costain, Sally began her career in HR at BAE Systems followed by CooperVision and latterly Eaton Corporation where she held a number of HR management roles across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Externally Sally is a Foundation Governor at Warwick Independent Schools Foundation and Chair of Governors for King’s High School, Warwick.

Lyn Colloff

Company Secretary

Lyn was appointed Company Secretary in April 2020. She was formerly Company Secretary at Cobham plc for over 10 years and brings a wealth of experience to Wincanton. Lyn is a qualified Chartered Secretary and worked exclusively in the Financial Services sector before joining Cobham. Amongst her financial services roles she worked for the Financial Services Authority (now the Financial Conduct Authority) and Nationwide Building Society. Lyn sits on the Company Secretary's Forum of the ICSA and the Governance Institute and completed an MBA at Aston University in 2004.

Paul Durkin

Chief Customer & Innovation Officer

Paul was appointed Chief Customer and Innovation Officer in June 2021. Previous to this Paul led Wincanton’s Digital & eFulfilment business, responsible for developing our direct to customer propositions and growth. Over the past 10 years Paul has established Wincanton as a market leader in home delivery and eFulfilment services with clients such as IKEA, M&S, Wickes and Screwfix. Before joining Wincanton Paul worked for Tibbett and Britten and latterly DHL Supply Chain, leading supply chain operations for blue chip clients in the UK and Asia. Paul has a passion for developing people and chairs the CILT’s ASPIRE foundation, which provides funded education and training opportunities for those in transport and logistics.

Richard Gifford

Chief Information Officer

Richard was appointed Chief Information Officer in April 2017 and is responsible for driving the IT and digitised strategy of the business whilst also ensuring that IT continues to support successful growth and operational requirements. He was formerly CIO of Carillion plc, driving the digital programmes in its Construction and Group Services businesses. Prior to joining Carillion, Richard began his career with Whitbread plc and has worked in other large plc and public sector organisations.

Ian Keilty

Chief Operating Officer

Ian joined Wincanton in November 2018 as Managing Director – Retail and Consumer and was appointed Chief Operating Officer in April 2020. He was previously Vice President, European Supply Chain, at Sysco and Chief Operating Officer at Brakes, the UK’s leading food service supplier. Ian has also held various positions on the operating boards and executive committees at Booker Group plc and Iceland Stores. Prior to this Ian worked in engineering and supply chain roles for Mars, British Gas and Nissan, and holds an MBA from London Business School.

Daniel Porte

Strategy Director

Daniel joined Wincanton in January 2021 as Strategy Director and a member of the Executive Management Team. Daniel was most recently VP Strategy – North America (LSG Group) leading key strategic projects, including M&A and acquisition projects as well as driving the region’s strategic initiatives. He also held other senior roles within the LSG Group in the UK and Europe including Director Supply Chain Optimisation UK. Daniel holds an MBA degree (Diplom-Kaufmann) from the University of Mainz, Germany, with a specialty in accounting and information technology.

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