CRG invests in trio of marketing and buyer appointments
The Country Range Group is continuing its investment drive in its central office team with a trio of new appointments announced ahead of 2023.
Following the Group’s 30th year anniversary in 2022 and the announcement of new Chief Executive Martin Ward’s ambitious growth plans, Rachel Porter and Graham Caldwell will join the group as Marketing Managers, while Tom Holdsworth is to support the trading team as a Category Buyer.
The three new team members officially began their new roles at the beginning of December in time for the busy Christmas and New Year period for foodservice businesses.
Rachel Porter, Marketing Manager
With 17 years’ experience across Brand Management, Product Development and Product Marketing, Rachel’s focus will be on driving the Group’s marketing strategy and engaging with key stakeholders within the central team and the membership. Alongside this, Rachel will also oversee the Group’s Country Range own brand range, developing the brand strategy, product development and coordinating all brand marketing activities.
Graham Caldwell, Marketing Manager
A University of Sunderland graduate with a degree in Marketing Management, Graham has spent the last 9 years working within a Lancashire-based digital marketing agency. In his new role, Graham will support the Group’s focus on the digital transformation including creating, developing and executing the Group’s digital marketing strategy. He will also be working on developing the Group’s communication tools that key brands can utilise to reach the catering customers across the membership, as well as ensuring the marketing assets the Group provide to its members are relevant and efficient.
Tom Holdsworth, Category Buyer
The CRG trading team has been increased to five with the addition of Tom Holdsworth to help support the Group’s focus on ensuring their members are competitive across all areas. Tom has been working in commercial roles for over 10 years now, largely in food, and has been a buyer in most categories from ingredients right through to tins of corned beef from South America. Tom’s new role will see him support the trading team as well as being involved with key commodity areas including Country Range brand product development.
Martin Ward, Country Range Group Chief Executive, said: “I’m thrilled to welcome Rachel, Graham and Tom to the central office team and I look forward to working with them more closely as the group transitions and we look to achieve our ambitious targets over the coming years.
“All three of them bring energy and enthusiasm, as well as having the right skills and experience in their own areas, and I have no doubt they will be huge assets to the business going forward. We’re always looking to recruit the best and invest in our central office team and our latest arrivals are the perfect example of that.”
