DAIRY group Meadow Foods has announced the appointment of Per Harkjaer as Chairman replacing Simon Chantler who will remain on the board as a Non Executive Director and a substantial shareholder.

Mr Chantler founded Meadow Foods in 1992 and over the last 28 years has held the position of Managing Director, Executive Chairman and latterly non-executive Chairman. The company operates across four sites and turns over £450M. Mr Chantler comments: “We are delighted to welcome Per to the Board. He brings a wealth of complementary expertise in food, manufacturing and innovation, as well as a proven ability to deliver growth for global food businesses. We are excited by this next phase in the company’s development as we continue to create new opportunities for our producer partners, customers and employees.”

Mr Harkjaer, adds: “Meadow Foods has matured as a business significantly in recent years and I’m excited to be joining the board and to support their ambitions for continued growth.”

The company currently employs more than 450 people and handles in excess of 500 million litres of milk each year direct from its network of dedicated milk producers across the UK, including Cumbria.