FDBusiness.com

Danish Crown has announced that Steve Francis is stepping down from his position as CEO of Tulip Ltd as the UK business kicks off the next step of its turnaround programme. Danish Crown CEO and Chairman of Tulip Ltd Jais Valeur will take on the role of Executive Chairman of Tulip Ltd.

Steve Francis was appointed as CEO of Tulip Ltd in September 2016. Since then he has led the company in the successful implementation of phase one of a long-term business transformation.

Under Steve’s leadership, Tulip Ltd has undergone a full restructure into four dedicated divisions – Tulip Agriculture, Tulip Fresh, Tulip Food Company (UK) and Dalehead Foods – and completely rebuilt its senior team, with around 50% of the top 60 directors and senior managers new to the business.

Jais Valeur.

A key achievement has been the return to profit of the Tulip Food Company (UK) division, which is made up from the business’ food processing sites, while last year’s acquisition of Easey Holdings cemented Tulip Agriculture’s position as the leading high welfare pig farming operation in the UK.

In a planned move following the successful completion of the first phase of the business transformation, Danish Crown CEO and Chairman of Tulip Ltd Jais Valeur will take on the role of Executive Chairman of Tulip Ltd, working with the Tulip Ltd Executive Team in the day to day running of the business.

Jais Valeur says: “Steve leaves Tulip Ltd in a far stronger state than when he arrived and I would like to personally thank him on behalf of the Danish Crown Board for his outstanding contribution. Customer relationships are back to health and their confidence in our business has been restored. Employees are much more engaged in the strategic direction of the business and we have strong governance and leadership in place across all four divisions. And, critically, Tulip has moved on from recording significant weekly losses to much improved trading performance.”

Jais Valeur adds: “We are now moving into the next, lengthier phase of Tulip’s turnaround programme, which is to rebuild the customer portfolio we lost over previous years and restore Tulip’s position as the UK industry leader. My role will be to work with the Executive Team within Tulip Ltd to ensure we continue on the journey we have embarked upon ourselves and leverage for our customers all the opportunities we have through closer co-operation within the wider Danish Crown group, in order to deliver world class performance levels.”