Mars Petcare has named Jason Uttley as its new commercial director.

The appointment marks a return to Mars Petcare for Uttley. He originally joined Mars in 1994 and worked there for 10 years - seven of which were at Mars Petcare - in customer service, trade marketing and sales roles, including as Tesco account director and grocery field sales controller.

He left Mars in 2004 for Warburtons, where he was new business director responsible for the launch of new business outside of Warburtons’ core bakery activities, such as gluten free and snacks. In 2010, he was promoted to the role of commercial director.

Uttley replaces John Pickering, who has been appointed general manager of Mars Ireland.

“It is great to be back at Mars, where I had 10 fantastic years,” he said.

“I’m very excited by this role and working closely with our customers to take the UK’s leading petcare brands to new heights.”

He is the second director to return to Mars Petcare in three months.

In June, Marks & Spencer’s director of business development, Damian Guha, returned to Mars Petcare as UK managing director. He left Mars in 2011, having worked there for 16 years.

“Jason has a wealth of experience in the fmcg industry and this, combined with his affinity with the Mars culture, is why I am delighted he is returning to Mars,” Guha said.

Uttley starts his new role this month and will be based at Mars Petcare’s UK HQ in Waltham on the Wolds, Leicestershire.

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