Cadbury's chairman to stand down

The chairman of West Midlands-based chocolate giant Cadbury's, Sir John Sunderland, is set to stand down later this year.

He has 40 years' experience working within Cadbury Schweppes in the UK and overseas on both the confectionery and beverage side of the business. And he has held senior leadership roles with the famous Bournville-based company, including a spell as chief executive from 1996 to 2003.

He has recently just overseen the confirmation of a May 7 demerger of the Cadbury's confectionery business and the US-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group of soft drinks brands, which will also bring his time at the company to an end.

"The demerger requires us to issue debt, and clearly with the credit crisis it's not ideal at the moment," he said. "But we have been able to get agreements with five banks and we are confident the process will go ahead."

A stand-alone Cadbury's will then be the world's largest confectioner, with brands including Creme Egg and Green and Blacks in chocolate and Trident and Dentyne in chewing gum – and Sir John expects the group to continue with its strategy of growing its brand globally and improving margins.

"I joined Cadbury's in May 1968, a year before it merged with Schweppes, so there's symmetry in what's happening," he said.

"It's not easy to see a natural trade buyer for the drinks business. Coca-Cola and Pepsi could not buy it for competition reasons.

"The demerger will go through in May and I'll step down in mid-year, which has always been my plan. I said to the board that I would only do five years as chairman."

While the worldwide credit crunch is still making the headlines, Sir John doesn't believe that it will be seen as much more than a short-term blip in years to come.

"It's not a long-term trend that we'll be still talking about in 2018," he said.