Appointment of Finance and IT Director

Shepherd Neame Ltd, the Kent-based brewer and pub operator, announces the appointment of Mark Rider (35) as Finance and IT Director. Mark will join the company in January 2012 and will replace Ken Littlefair on the Board upon his retirement in March 2012.

Mark joins Shepherd Neame from J Sainsbury plc, where he has been Head of Finance, Food, since 2008. Mark joined Sainsbury’s in 2001 and has held a number of senior finance roles, including Head of Financial Planning and Corporate Finance and Group Financial Controller.

Prior to joining Sainsbury’s, Mark qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers (UK).

Miles Templeman, Chairman, said:

I am delighted to welcome Mark to Shepherd Neame. We are confident that his experience during ten years at Sainsbury’s will be of significant benefit to the company as we continue to develop our business.

I would also like to thank Ken Littlefair, who has made an outstanding contribution to the company over the past eleven years. Ken joined us in 2000 and has played a significant role in the company’s progress, particularly in modernising and developing our IT systems, improving business processes and the quality of management information flow. We wish him well in his retirement.