REG - Hotel Chocolat Group - Appointment of Chief Financial Officer

Hotel ChocolatAnnouncement

02/02/2023 07:00

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RNS Number : 6338O  Hotel Chocolat Group PLC  02 February 2023

2 February 2023

 

HOTEL CHOCOLAT GROUP PLC

("Hotel Chocolat", the "Company" or the "Group")

 

Appointment of Chief Financial Officer

 

Hotel Chocolat Group plc, a premium British chocolate maker, is pleased to
announce the appointment of Jon Akehurst as the Company's Chief Financial
Officer (CFO) and as an Executive Board Director. He will join the Company and
Board when his appointment becomes effective in May 2023.

 

Jon is a Chartered Accountant, and his career includes management and
leadership roles with General Mills, Mars, Aggreko and most recently at Terumo
Corporation as CFO. He has extensive experience across branded goods,
manufacturing and international development.

 

Further to the Company's announcement on 1 December 2022, Matt Pritchard
stepped down as CFO on 31 January after 9 years with the Company. Hotel
Chocolat Co-Founder and Chartered Accountant, Peter Harris, will be Interim
CFO until Jon arrives.

 

Angus Thirlwell, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Hotel Chocolat,
said:

 

"Jon joins at an exciting time for Hotel Chocolat. His skills will underpin
our determination to get back to running a tight ship operating model, with
EBITDA of 20%+ in 2025 within our sights."

 

In accordance with Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies, the names of
all companies and partnerships of which Jonathan Firth Akehurst, aged 40, is
or has been a director or partner at any time in the previous five years are
set out below:

 

 Current directorships and/or partnerships  Previous directorships and/or partnerships (in the last five years)
 Terumo Aortic Limited                      Aggreko International Projects Limited
 Vascutek Limited                           Aggreko Employment Services Limited
 Serom Medical Technology SRL               Kellogg Marketing and Sales Company (UK) Limited
                                            Kellogg Manchester Limited
                                            KJAL Limited
                                            Kellogg UK Minor Limited

 

Jon currently holds 613 ordinary shares in Hotel Chocolat and will join the
Hotel Chocolat LTIP upon commencement of his role.

 

Save as set out in this announcement, there are no further details to be
disclosed under Rule 17 or Schedule 2(g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in
respect of Jon.

 

Enquiries:

 Hotel Chocolat Group PLC                     Tel: +44 (0) 1763 257 746
 Angus Thirlwell, Co-Founder and CEO
 Peter Harris, Co-Founder, and Interim CFO

 Liberum (Nominated Adviser and Sole Broker)  Tel: +44 (0) 20 3100 2000
 Clayton Bush
 Edward Thomas
 Miquela Bezuidenhoudt

 Citigate Dewe Rogerson                       Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7638 9571
 Angharad Couch
 Ellen Wilton
 Alex Winch

 

Notes to Editors:

 

Hotel Chocolat is a premium British chocolate maker with a strong and
distinctive D2C brand. The business was founded by Angus Thirlwell and Peter
Harris, who are still executives within the business, and has traded under the
Hotel Chocolat brand since 2003. The Group is unusual in being a grower
(organic cacao farm in Saint Lucia), a manufacturer (Cambridgeshire) and
owning its extensive direct to consumer channels (branded stores, websites).
The Group was admitted to trading on AIM in 2016.

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