Miele looks to food industry for new UK boss

Miele is keen to get an “outside perspective” from its new UK managing director, John Pickering, whose career has been mainly in food and food retail.

Pickering, a former private banking manager for Lloyds, joins the family-owned German appliance brand from Mars Ireland, where he was general manager responsible for all brand categories and aspects of the Dublin-based operation.

He has also held various leadership positions at processed food giant Kraft Heinz as well as supermarket retailers Asda and Tesco.
Pickering, who has a BA (hons) in business, insurance and finance from the University of Wales, Bangor, said: “I am hugely excited to join Miele GB. The brand’s reputation for quality of product and service speaks for itself.

“I am looking forward to meeting the team and our customers, listening to their challenges and understanding how everything works in what will be a new sector for me.

“I hope to bring an outside perspective, which I am confident will add value and build on what is already a fantastic business.”
Noël Smets, regional managing director Miele North-West Europe said: “John has a proven track record in achieving sustainable, quality business growth built through leading strong engaged teams.

“He is used to working for a family business and shares many of the Miele values around employee engagement, exemplary customer service, integrity and quality. We very much look forward to him joining our team in the UK.”

The appointment comes after former Miele UK managing director Simon Grantham left the business to join Panasonic UK and Ireland as managing director. He had led Miele’s UK business for 12 years.

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