The Jamie Oliver Group has appointed Kevin Styles as Chief Executive and he will take up the role in early July.
Kevin is joining the business from Vue International, where he was Group Managing Director, and has a strong track record of driving and delivering commercial growth and digital expansion across the retail, leisure and entertainment sectors. Previous roles included CEO (Europe & UK) for American Golf, Managing Director at both Best Buy Europe and Kingfisher, as well as Group Marketing Director at Thomas Cook.
Working alongside Jamie Oliver and the Senior Leadership Team, Kevin will be responsible for the group’s global commercial strategy, managing partnerships with retailers, franchisees and content partners, and driving growth across all areas of the business: media (books, TV, digital content), product and licensing as well as the international restaurant business, which includes 60+ outlets around the world and a Jamie Oliver Cookery School in London.
The Jamie Oliver Group is a commercial business with social purpose at its heart – and a certified B Corp since 2020 – and Kevin will be responsible for aligning commercial activity with the group’s campaign and social impact work and ethos.
Jamie Oliver said: “As a global food brand and B Corp, we know we have an important role to play in driving positive change across the wider industry, and partnering with progressive businesses who want to be part of the change and help their customers feed themselves and their loved ones well – now more so than ever. Kevin brings a wealth of experience from many industries to the role, and I really look forward to working with him to lead the business and our amazingly talented teams into our next important phase.”
Kevin Styles said: “I have long admired how the Jamie Oliver Group marries its commercial and social ambitions. In today’s ever changing consumer landscape, brands are defined by their actions and having clarity of purpose truly matters – especially in the world of food, which has so many touch points in people’s everyday lives. I’m honoured and excited to be joining the business and am very much looking forward to working alongside Jamie and the whole team to lead the commercial development and further build on the success the group has had to date.”