Ton Christiaanse leaves Brakes after just nine months

Brakes UK chief executive officer Ton Christiaanse has left the wholesaler after just nine months. He took over from Phil Wieland, who departed “to pursue other interests”.

Christiaanse (pictured) joined Brakes – now owned by Houston-based Sysco – from Scottish beef producer AK Stoddart, where he was chairman. He had also worked for Unilever and Dutch food businesses Farm Frites and Vion.

On moving to the wholesaler, he reported to group CEO Ken McMeikan, who himself left the company in April.

A Brakes spokesman told Cash & Carry Management: “Ajoy Karna, Sysco senior vice-president, international foodservice operations, Europe, is leading the Brakes UK business while it seeks an appropriate successor.”

In a separate development, Sysco is buying Hawaii-based HFM Foodservice, which has an annual turnover of $290 million.

Tel: Brakes Group (01233) 206000