Vision Capital appoints Voyle

Food sector stalwart Gareth Voyle has been named as the chairman of a portfolio of food businesses recently acquired from Northern Foods by Vision Capital, the UK secondaries investor. Vision paid €237m in November 2006 for four companies.

Voyle is the former CEO of Geest, the UK prepared food and produce businesses, having spent eight years there from 1998, joining as COO. He remained as CEO when the business was acquired by Icelandic Group Bakkavör HF in May 2005, and since then has overseen a successful transformation and consolidation strategy, including four significant acquisitions. He resigned in May 2006 to pursue new career challenges.

The portfolio acquisition comprises: Fletchers Bakeries Limited (which includes the La Baguette Doree business), a UK supplier of bakery products to retailers and foodservice; Smiths Flour Mills, a flour milling business; Park Cake Bakeries, a developer and producer of cakes and desserts in the UK; and Chilled Pastry, the overall market leader in chilled savoury pastry products in the UK, which includes the Pork Farms and Bowyers brands.