PTF on hunt for new leadership with Kuyk and Coleshill to leave

The Provision Trade Federation is searching for a new director general to take the reins from outgoing Angela Coleshill and Andrew Kuyk.

Joint director general Angela Coleshill stepped down this week after two years at the helm. Andrew Kuyk, who was appointed as director general six years ago, is also set to leave once a successor is found.

The PTF represents processors and traders in a range of staple dairy, meat, and fishery products, sourced from the UK, EU and international supply chains. It also provides secretariat for the Specialist Cheesemakers Association and the UK Seafood Industry Alliance. Collectively they account for 20% of UK household expenditure on food (around £24bn a year) and support some 130,000 jobs.

The vacancy at the top follows an “unprecedented” time of upheaval, the PTF said. The ideal candidate would be able to build on post-Brexit trading relationships and look ahead to a chapter of autonomous UK policy development in areas like sustainability and health, as well as a changing market for labour and skills outside the EU, it said.

“As everyone will be aware, the arrival of the pandemic confronted us all with an unprecedented series of additional challenges in maintaining the continuity of the nation’s food supply and the viability of our own members’ businesses,” said Kuyk.

“Although a significant number of uncertainties remain, the PTF Council believes it is now time to move forward with its plans for the future by seeking to recruit a new director general to lead the organisation as we emerge from the extraordinary demands created by the combination of Covid and Brexit.”