Shepherd Neame appoints new finance director

Rider will join the company in January and will replace Ken Littlefair on the group’s board upon his retirement in March.

He joined Sainsbury's in 2001 and has held a number of senior finance roles, including head of financial planning and corporate finance and group financial controller. He was appointed the supermarket chain’s head of finance, food, in 2008.

Prior to joining Sainsbury's, Rider qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (UK).

Miles Templeman, chairman, said: “I am delighted to welcome Mark to Shepherd Neame. We are confident that his experience during 10 years at Sainsbury's will be of significant benefit to the company as we continue to develop our business.

“I would also like to thank Ken Littlefair, who has made an outstanding contribution to the company over the past eleven years. Ken joined us in 2000 and has played a significant role in the company's progress, particularly in modernising and developing our IT systems, improving business processes and the quality of management information flow. We wish him well in his retirement.”