Symingtons / Symingtons - Our People - David Salkeld

David Salkeld

CEO

Biography

David has brought more than 20 years of experience working in the UK food industry to Symington’s, and has a proven track record at creating shareholder value during his career as Managing Director of Northern Dairies Ltd, CEO of Arla Foods UK Plc, and Group CEO of Grampian Country Food Group Ltd.

It was on the back of this experience that David was able to secure the support of Hermes Private Equity who manage a £2Billion fund and the Yorkshire Bank in a Management Buy-in (MBI) in 2007.

In a Press Release following the acquisition Hermes Director Justin Ward commented: “Symington’s has a number of attractive brands and we believe the business is very scalable. The new management team has an excellent track record in brand development and management in this sector. They have developed some exciting plans to grow the business further through an aggressive New Product Development program.”

After establishing the vision to grow the business further, David and business partner Henrik Nygaard Pade, set about creating the strategy that would deliver the growth and a business plan that would guide the company in all it does. David then set about putting together a team that would deliver the vision through Branded, Added Value and Retailer Branded products as well as leveraging the heritage and reputation for high quality foods that Symington’s has become known for.

As a well known and respected figure within the food industry, David has developed and fostered excellent working relationships with both customers and suppliers. He is proud that his team have been able to deliver products that have consistently added value to categories as well as gained market share within the Food Retail and Food Service sectors.

The future strategy will aim to build further on this platform, and with an excellent NPD pipeline and strong focus on improving efficiencies and reducing costs, David is confident that the ambitious goals set out in the business plan would continue to be met.

David is also very keen to protect the culture within the company that ensures that every colleague feels valued: “When I first came to Symington’s, I was impressed by the strong family culture here; it wasn’t just that the company was family owned, we have fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, husbands and wives that worked – and still work here together. We are very much at the heart of the local community. This atmosphere is something we’ve worked hard to maintain through initiatives such as the annual Family Fun Day and many more.”

“Symington’s is a great place to work – it is a friendly, welcoming place and we give our colleagues the opportunity to contribute and progress, as well as share in our continued success.”