Martin Ward confirmed as Country Range Group chief executive
Martin Ward has been unveiled as the new chief executive of Country Range Group – replacing the outgoing Coral Rose.
Ward will officially begin his role on 1 October 2022 and is making the step up from trading director, which is a position he started in 2015.
He is replacing Rose at the helm after she announced her move to Fairway Foodservice earlier this year.
Ward has worked at the Lancashire-based foodservice buying group for more than 20 years when he started as a foodservice buyer in 2002 and played a key role in the development of the Country Range brand.
“I’m delighted to be appointed the new Country Range Group Chief Executive and am truly excited about the opportunities ahead for our members and the group as a whole,” said Ward.
|It’s been an incredibly tough last few years and turbulent times may lay ahead but if I have learnt anything in recent times, it’s that our group has the resources, creativity, resilience and most importantly – the amazing people within our teams, to face and conquer anything thrown at us.
“I have learnt so much from our members during my time and am passionate about the group retaining its place as leaders in our industry for many more years to come.”
Ward’s initially focus will be leading Country Range into a busy end-of-year schedule, but has a view on the longer term too.
“We have a busy period coming up with our annual ‘An Evening with…’ event taking place at St Paul’s Cathedral in December bringing an end to our 30th anniversary celebrations, the launch of the Country Range Student Chef Challenge 2023, some exciting new product launches for Christmas, as well as planning for 2023 all on the horizon,” Ward added.
“Fortunately, I have a fantastic team supporting me which includes our Head of Trading Dean Pendlebury, Head of Marketing Emma Holden and our Commercial Controller Katrina Crabtree, as well as an enthusiastic and motivated board and members who creatively collaborate to ensure we remain the best at what we do.
“We have ambitious plans over the next few years to reach a target of £1 billion in sales turnover so we have highlighted four strategic areas that we need to focus on as a Group and individually; scale, sustainability, data and the development of the Country Range brand.
“Our mission is still ‘to ensure our members achieve a faster and more profitable growth by being a member of our group’ and I strongly believe that by achieving these strategic goals we will do this.”
Chief Executive Coral Rose Country Range Group Fairway Foodservice Foodservice Martin Ward wholesaler
