Gribbon departs Buildstore for new role with Charteredbrands
Glen Gribbon, the former marketing chief of Whyte & Mackay who was part of the company’s MBO, is to leave his new position as marketing director of self-build specialist Buildstore to join Charteredbrands, the brand revival specialist.
It is thought that Gribbon will have a key role at the brand management company, which is based in Edinburgh but also has a London presence. The company specialises in reviving ailing brands and has a number of former marketing directors in its management team.
In March it hired Bob Cheeseman, one of Scottish Courage’s longest serving marketing chiefs; Phil Collins, Bulmers’ former sales director and Tom Staniland, the UK sales director of German FMCG company, Henkel.
Charterbrands was created in 2003 by former Unilever marketer, Gervase Cottam, as a potential incubator for brands that need revived. Initially it targeted household products, but has widened its net to look at others brands, and is expected to also target the drinks sector.
It has had a number of successes, most recently with the purchase of Pomegreat, a pomegranate juice brands. In a year, the company turned it in to the fastest growing juice brand, with sales growth of 600%. In February this year, it bought 50 per cent of Herefordshire-based Brooks Drinks, one of England’s oldest spring water producers.
Gribbon, who has been at Buildstore for six months, left Whyte & Mackay last year after six years. The company hit headlines in 2001 when it went through Scotland’s largest MBO, buying out the subsidiary of Jim Beam Brands, JBB. The company rebranded itself as Kyndal, and Gribbon became marketing director. The new company structure and branding lasted less than two years when in 2003 chief executive Brian Megson left and his role was assumed by chairman Vivian Imerman. Imerman then bought out WestLB’s share in the business. West LB had financed part of the MBO. He reversed the rebranding, opting instead to use the company’s flagship brand – Whyte & Mackay – as the company’s name.
Gribbon started his marketing career in 1990 and has worked for BP Oil, Mars Confectionery and Colgate Palmolive. In 1998 he joined JBB as international sales manager before becoming international marketing manager in 2000.