Unilever Chief Executive to step down

Published by

Nicky Godding

Unilever which has a large factory in Gloucester. Its chief executive is retiring

Consumer goods firm Unilever, which has a large factory in Gloucester, has announced its Chief Executive Paul Polman is to retire.

Mr Polman, who has headed up the Anglo-Dutch company for more than a decade, will be succeeded by Unilever Beauty and Personal Care President Alan Jope.

It comes after the company hit the headlines earlier this year over Mr Polman’s failed bid to centralise its headquarters in the Netherlands.

His appointment will become effective from January 1, although Mr Polman will support this transition through the first half of 2019 before departing the company in July.

Mr Jope has headed beauty and personal care, which is Unilever's largest division, since 2014 and prior to this he was the firm's leadership executive.

As yet, Mr Jope's successor has not been named.

Unilever makes household brands such as Dove, Sure, Hellman’s and Marmite and has a large factory based in Gloucester making many of its popular ice creams such as Magnums.

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.