Our leadership team are all closely
engaged with the individual
businesses of our group, whilst
also focusing on our overall
strategy, performance and direction.
Chris Mack leads the board as chairman. He is the fourth generation of his family to take the helm of the business, his great grandfather establishing M&W Mack Ltd in 1874.
The Mack name is synonymous with fruit and vegetables, and Chris is well-respected in the industry, having worked for M&W Mack Ltd for most of his working life. He became managing director of M&W Mack Ltd in 1988, and chairman and chief executive of Fresca Group Ltd when it was formed in 2005. Chris became the chairman of the company in July 2014 upon the appointment of Ian Craig as chief executive. Chris is also a board member of the Waitrose Foundation (RSA).
Joining Fresca in August 2020, Martyn brings our companies shared values and skills honed through demanding roles in the fresh food industry, spanning both retail and supply in complex organisational structures. He designed and led major change projects at Morrisons as Group Manufacturing Director, then becoming Group Retail Director. Here he was responsible for the people, management, efficiency and strategic improvement of over 500 retail stores.
Martyn then joined Boparan Holdings as Group Chief Operations Officer, latterly holding Interim Chief Executive responsibility with full control of one of the UK food industry’s largest organisations, the 2 Sisters Food Group.
Having started his career at Coopers & Lybrand in the UK and New York, Cox went on to be CFO at fashion brands Dune, Thomas Pink and Jigsaw. He also has extensive experience leading operational and commercial teams in the UK and internationally, including as CEO of The Dune Group for 3 years. He is a Chartered Accountant and holds an MBA from Imperial College London. Having had significant involvement in turnaround projects, funding events and commercial strategy.
Jamie has been at Primafruit since 1990, managing the business since its acquisition by Fresca Group (in 2005) and into its current position with Waitrose.
Planning the next phase of development at Evesham and maintaining and growing the relationship with Waitrose are his current priorities.
Having joined Fresca Group in 2016 after a distinguished career at Vitacress Sales, Charles Rees is Managing Director of our wholesale division. He oversees commercial and practical operations at our busy branches in Birmingham, Bristol and Southampton, also having responsibility for our Ship Stores business and the award-winning Mack Food Service division.
Liz McMeikan was appointed as a non-executive director in April 2010 and chairs the Audit Committee. She is senior independent director and member of the Audit Committee at JD Wetherspoon plc. She chairs the Remuneration Committee and is a member of the Audit Committee at both Unite plc and Flybe plc, and is a non-executive director at CH & Co Group Ltd. She is also chair of the Moat Housing Association.
Liz spent her early career at Colgate-Palmolive and then at Tesco, establishing Tesco Express and being appointed stores board director for change management and human resources.
Simon became senior partner of DAC Beachcroft in August 2005, having been a partner since 1985. He was re-elected as senior partner for a second term in 2010, a position he held until he relinquished it in October 2015 in preparation for retirement. His working life has covered most areas of corporate law with particular experience in private company acquisitions and disposals. Simon was appointed as a non-executive director of Fresca in April 2010.
Gary joined Fresca Group in June 2021. An accomplished Managing Director, he has a wealth of knowledge and experience within the fresh produce arena.
He started his career at Marks & Spencer and after 15 years, moved across to the supplier side of fresh produce, joining Fresca from his previous role as Managing Director of AG Thames.
Simon has been within the Fresca family for over 25 years and during that time has amassed extensive knowledge and experience of fresh produce, and has made a valuable contribution to a number of our businesses.
Having already overseen a large-scale operational expansion at DGM, Simon is now championing the introduction of a brand new vertical ‘smart farm’ on site, to further expand our range of speciality crops.