Now Haskins leaves Northern Foods

14 November 2001



Now Haskins leaves Northern Foods

By FWi staff

LORD HASKINS, the governments rural recovery coordinator, has announced that he is retiring as chairman of Northern Foods.

This announcement follows news that the Labour peer was stepping down as chairman of Express Dairies.

Lord Haskins said that it had long been his intention to step down from his two public company chairmanships before he reached his 65th birthday.

He told the Daily Mail that after a 40-year career he had “nothing lined up” for the future.

The Times reports that Lord Haskins, a close friend of Tony Blair, had been criticised by Northern shareholders for spending too much time away.

The new chairman at Northern Foods will be former Nestlé UK boss Peter Blackburn.

Express Dairies has named Sir David Naish, who was president of the National Farmers Union from 1991-98, as Lord Haskins replacement.

Northern Foods shares fell 6p to 149p after Lord Haskins unveiled a drop in pretax profits from 52.2 million to 38.4m in the six months to September.

• Haskins to quit Express Dairies, FWi, 13 November, 2001
• Haskins to give up the day jobs?, FWi, 07 November, 2001
• Families dismiss rural recovery plan, FWi, 19 October, 2001

• Daily Mail, 14 November, 2001, page 71

• The Times, 14 November, 2001, page 24