Food Chief Swaps Fish Fingers For Penguin

The chief executive of the company behind Birds Eye fish fingers is to swap one food role for another by becoming the boss of United Biscuits (UB).

I have learnt that Martin Glenn, who announced earlier this year that he was stepping down at Iglo Group, is to take the helm of Britain's biggest biscuits producer.

UB makes some of the best-known food brands in the UK, including McVitie's, Penguin and Jaffa Cakes.

Owned by Blackstone (NYSE: BX - news) and PAI Partners, UB sold its snacks arm, which included brands such as Hula Hoops, to Intersnack, a German company, late last year.

Mr Glenn's appointment was announced internally at UB this morning and is expected to be made public later today.

He replaces Benoit Testard, a long-standing UB executive, who is resigning to pursue other interests.

Mr Glenn's career included a long stint at Pepsico (NYSE: PEP - news) , running the business behind brands such as Walkers Crisps, where he signed Gary Lineker, the former England striker, as the face of the product.

The new chief executive's appointment is likely to dampen expectations of a short-term sale of the rest of UB.

The company's biggest rival, Burton's Biscuits, is being groomed for a sale later this year, Sky News revealed last month.

Neither UB nor Mr Glenn could be reached for comment.