Pharmaceutical manufacturer Thornton & Ross, part of the STADA group, has appointed Craig Fletcher to head up its UK supply chain, the third recent appointment to the company’s UK senior team.
Craig joins the Huddersfield-based business as Regional Supply Chain Director UK, with a remit that includes bringing existing supply chain teams together as one team, whilst continuing to develop the network itself alongside enhancing customer relationships.
With a background in both business and consultancy roles throughout healthcare, FMCG, food, industrial, wholesale and retail spanning more than 20 years, Craig brings a wealth of experience to the role. Among his key attributes are delivering outstanding results in terms of service, cost, waste reduction and profitability.
He is a highly regarded coach and leader who has recruited and developed high performing supply chain teams for several major UK corporations including Scapa Group and Science In Sport. Craig specialises in demand and inventory management, supply planning and project management, having implemented numerous projects from site openings and closures to implementing enterprise resource planning systems.
University of Huddersfield graduate Craig is the third recent recruit to the senior team at Thornton & Ross, joining Mick Cox and Prof Stephen Makin. Mick joined from GlaxoSmithKline in July as vice-president for consumer healthcare in the UK while Stephen leads the company’s research and development department.
T&R executive vice-president Roger Scarlett-Smith commented: “We are delighted to welcome Craig to the team. He brings with him considerable expertise in end to end supply chain management and he is sure to become a considerable asset to the team, being both a highly experienced supply chain professional and an inspirational leader.”
Craig added: “The more I engaged with T&R through the recruitment process, the stronger sense I got that this was a business with a clear sense of strategy and direction and would be a good cultural fit for myself.
“It is exciting to join and strengthen a relatively new team. We will be working with some exciting brands to enhance the supply chain performance in both the UK and throughout the wider group.
“Experience in this role is vital, particularly with the challenges the pandemic has brought and will continue to place on supply chains, especially within the sectors we operate in.
“My aim is to enable the supply chain to add value to the business and, through collaboration with our wider internal teams and external customers, to improve our contribution to the UK and group business as a whole. I hope to make the supply chain an exciting, rewarding and engaging function to work in and develop a high performing team.”
Thornton & Ross develops, manufactures and supplies a wide range of branded over-the-counter medicines, dermatological solutions and other healthcare and hygiene products including Zoflora®, Savlon®, Natures Aid®, Hedrin® and Setlers®.
Jenny has been reporting on small business issues since 2001 where she held a number of freelance positions across the leading SME publications in the UK. Specialist subjects included SME financing and tax.