Thomas Ridley Foodservice appoints Jon Marlow as MD

Jon Marlow, formerly sales director and interim managing director at Divine Chocolate, has been appointed by Thomas Ridley Foodservice as managing director.

Marlow (pictured) joins the Suffolk-based wholesaler one year after it was acquired by the Caterfood Buying Group. It the largest company within the group.

He has spent a lot of his career in the FMCG food manufacturing and supplier sectors. Prior to Divine, he held a number of sales, marketing and leadership roles in businesses that include Carlsberg, Twinings, Cafédirect, Jordans Dorset Ryvita, and Suntory.

Commenting on his new appointment, Marlow said: “Thomas Ridley is a fantastic company to be joining and I’m really looking forward to bringing my knowledge and experience to the business and helping to guide the Thomas Ridley team through this next part of the company’s chapter.

“One week in, and I can already see that Thomas Ridley is a great place to work, with lots of excellent, dedicated people, a really special culture, and a lot of great opportunities around the corner. I’m joining a large, established company in a great part of the world and can’t wait to work with all of these fantastic people on our future within foodservice.”

Phil Atyeo, managing director of Caterfood Buying Group, added: “Jon brings a lot of really valuable commercial experience to the table and a great down-to-earth people-focused approach, which makes him the perfect person to join Caterfood Buying Group and Thomas Ridley Foodservice as both continue to grow and prosper.”

Thomas Ridley Foodservice is BRCS certified and supplies more than 2,000 foodservice customers across East Anglia, London, Kent and the Southeast, ranging across education, healthcare, leisure and hospitality. It also has a large ecommerce business, shipping bulk food and drink items all over the UK, and a click & collect offering for its Suffolk-based customers and businesses.