Galen G. Weston named CEO of George Weston Ltd.
Galen G. Weston has been appointed CEO of George Weston Ltd., a company that his father led for decades before stepping aside last year as part of a staged succession plan at the company that controls the Loblaw grocery business.
The younger Weston has been chairman of George Weston Ltd. since last September, when his father W. Galen stepped aside at age 75. His 76th birthday was on Oct. 29.
Galen G. Weston, 44, will also remain chairman and CEO of the company's largest subsidiary, Loblaw Companies Ltd., which bought the Shoppers Drug Mart chain several years ago.
Luc Mongeau has been appointed president of Weston Foods—one of Canada's largest bakery companies—and Sarah Davis, who was chief administrative officer at Loblaw, will become president at the business.
Mongeau is a seasoned consumer goods executive with extensive branding, product development, operations and P&L management experience in food, chocolate and petcare categories. Over a 15-year career at Mars, his roles included leading the Canadian business, Mars Petcare's multi-billion dollar North American business and setting the global strategic and marketing direction for some of Mars' leading Petcare brands.
Davis has served as chief administrative officer, responsible for supply chain, IT , process and efficiencies, real estate, goods not for resale and strategy. Prior to that, she served as CFO, appointed in 2010.
Paviter Binning—who had been CEO of George Weston Ltd. since March 2016—has been appointed a special advisor to the Weston family's private Wittington Investments Ltd. Binning will step down from the George Weston and Loblaw boards of directors.
Galen G. Weston said in a statement that Binning has played a pivotal role in shaping the company's strategic direction and has provided strong support through the leadership succession process.
"Our family looks forward to continuing to benefit from his valuable experience and insight with our other business interests,'' he said.
The Weston family is among the wealthiest in Canada, both because of their holdings in the publicly traded companies and because of extensive private holdings including the Holt Renfrew chain of upscale department stores.