Bill Ronald, former managing director of Mars Confectionery, is joining the troubled Uniq group as chief executive officer. Ronald, 46, and a high profile figure in the food industry, left Mars late last year when the group's food and petcare businesses in the UK were merged to form the Masterfoods division of Mars UK. He joins Uniq on February 25 with the task of restoring the convenience food group's fortunes. Uniq ­ born out of the old Unigate after the sale of the dairy business to Dairy Crest and the demerger of Wincanton, the transport division ­ last November announced an interim pre-tax loss of £28.2m after exceptional costs and goodwill. However, on Thursday, Ronald told The Grocer: "This is an exciting time to be joining Uniq and I am excited at the prospect of turning the business round." Uniq's previous chief executive, Terry Stannard, left in September after a second profits warning. Uniq chairman Nigel Stapleton in November announced a package of cost cutting measures and the relaunch of the loss making Shape yogurt brand. {{NEWS }}

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