Wickland Westcott

Plum - Building the Board for growth

Plum is a premium organic baby food business, founded in 2006. Plum believes in creating real food for babies, not just baby food. As an alternative to homemade for busy parents who want to provide their babies with the best in terms of taste and nutrition and help them build an appetite for life, Plum now has a 50+ strong range across wet meals, cereals, dairy, biscuits and savoury snacks.

Plum’s dedication to helping mums do the best they can, has seen the business grow from strength to strength. By early 2010, sales had exceeded £10 million per annum, and the team recognised the need to prepare the business for its next stage of development. A suitable partner was sought, and Darwin Private Equity offered the right combination of product affinity and consumer expertise.

Darwin acquired the business in mid-2010, and as part of their plans to build capability and scale, they required both a Chief Executive and a Non-Executive Chairman. Critical in the CEO role was the ability to connect with the brand values, and build organisational capability to deliver this vision consistently to a growing customer-base. Progressive, innovative product development was also a key skill. Ross Webster, head of Wickland Westcott’s Private Equity Practice, introduced Paul Kaye to Darwin prior to the deal, and he worked with them as their buy-in candidate. With his experience from Dairy Crest, Northern Foods and Mars Inc he was able to hit the ground running, taking over the reins at Plum on completion of the deal.

Based on this successful appointment, Darwin then retained Wickland Westcott to fill the Chairman role, specifying a brief that included knowledge of branded food businesses, preferably with a baby product background, coupled with a detailed understanding of grocery, and a track record in Private Equity. Competencies included the ability to network, manage diverse stakeholders, and interact with gravitas. A short-list of three very strong contenders was assembled, and Nish Kankiwala was appointed to the job. His background including Pepsico, Burger King and Mayborn Group (which includes the Tommy Tippee baby brand) made him the ideal candidate for the role, and he joined in September 2010.

The final piece of the management jigsaw was the recruitment by Wickland Westcott of a high calibre CFO, a search which concluded with Jason Ashton joining Plum from Cadbury, to act as a business partner to Paul.

All three appointees share the same excitement and enthusiasm for the Plum brand - at Wickland Westcott we believe this empathy is essential in all board level candidates.

Jonathan Kaye, the partner at Darwin who led the Plum investment commented: "Building a high quality management team was fundamental to delivering our strategic vision for Plum. Wickland Westcott have done a fantastic job in helping us assemble a high quality team. I’d have no hesitation in working with them again."