PZ Cussons has hired Marcus Saxton as its new sales director.

Saxton has worked with a variety of fmcg brands since starting out as an area account manager for Mars in 1999.

He joined AB InBev in 2000 as national account manager for Budweiser and Michelob. After three years he moved to Britvic as on-trade business development manager and a year later started focusing solely on Britvic’s relationship with its largest grocery customer - Tesco.

He stayed in the role for two years before joining GSK in 2006, looking after Lucozade, Ribena and Horlicks. He stayed for five years, moving up to become shopper marketing director in 2008.

In 2010, he joined Molson Coors as director of sales with responsibility for the Carling, Coors Light, Cobra, Grolsch, Caffrey’s and Worthington’s brands.

Saxton ran a team of 35 and handled a number of grocery accounts before being placed by The Simmance Partnership in the role of sales director at PZ Cussons, the global supplier of personal healthcare products and consumer goods.

PZ Cussons hit the headlines in March after it released a profit warning due to continued instability in Nigeria, with the company stating the situation would have a substantial impact on group profitability for the year. Last year, its Nigerian business accounted for over a third of PZ Cussons pre-tax profits.

However, its European performance was “robust” and launches - which included NPD for its Imperial Leather, Original Source and Carex brands - had been “well received”, said the company.

Its performance in Poland and Greece was in line with expectations, and it had continued its growth in Indonesia. Australian sales were improving on a monthly basis despite “challenging” conditions.

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