May 14 - John Nichols, Non-Executive Chairman of Nichols plc, the soft drinks group, will make the following statement at the Group's Annual General Meeting to be held later today:
Board Appointment
"Further to the Board changes made on the 21 November 2007, I am now delighted to announce the appointment of Taylor Purkis as Group Finance Director, Nichols plc. Taylor, aged 40, is a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants and is currently Finance Director of the European operations of Energizer Inc., a global, branded consumer goods company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Prior to this he held various international Finance Director roles with SSL Healthcare PLC, based primarily in Europe and America. We expect Taylor to join the business around the middle of July 2008 and believe his international background and FMCG experience will be a valuable addition to the current executive team."
Current Trading
"The first 17 weeks trading in 2008 have been in line with our budget expectations and slightly ahead of the same period last year, despite strong comparatives for April 2007, which was the sunniest month of the whole year. At this early stage we are pleased with progress year to date and are on track to deliver further progress in the full year."
AIM Rule 17 disclosure
In accordance with AIM Rule 17 Taylor Purkis is currently a director of Energizer Group Ltd, Energizer Holdings UK Company Ltd and Energizer Investments UK Ltd. There are no other matters required to be disclosed in accordance with Schedule 2 paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.
Nichols plc is a highly focused soft drinks and dispensed cold drinks business, comprising two operations:
1) Soft Drinks (sales and marketing of the Vimto brand throughout the world, where it is now available in over 65 countries and of the Panda & Sunkist brands in the UK)
and
2) Dispense Systems (namely the Cabana, Beacon & Carielcold soft drinks on draught 'dispense' businesses)