English winemaker Chapel Down has hired a new CFO.
The upmarket brand has hired Robert Smith, UK & EMEA finance transformation boss at PwC.
A 13-year veteran of PwC, Smith has held a raft of senior leadership roles and is a chartered accountant.
He had a “history of building strong, enduring relationships, leading and inspiring diverse teams and managing large-scale finance transformation programmes”, said Chapel Down.
He was “well placed to lead the Chapel Down finance team: the transformational work on the delivery of our future investment in a new winery and vineyards; the management of our future capital strategy and investor relationships; implementing our new ERP systems; providing valuable and timely insights to our commercial & operations teams; and partner with our CEO on future industry growth opportunities”, it added.
He will start the job on 1 September, taking over from current CFO & COO Richard Woodhouse, who will remain in post until the end of August “to ensure a complete handover”.
The news comes after a swathe of major changes to the business in 2021.
February 2021 saw it offload its beer business, Curious Drinks, to focus on wine after Curious Drinks’ sales were severely affected by the pandemic. It sold it to PE firm Risk Capital Partners.
Then, in August, its long-standing CEO Frazer Thompson retired after 20 years leading Chapel Down. He was replaced by drinks industry veteran Andrew Carter, formerly MD at Chase Distillery.
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