Spalding, UK: Matthew Downes joins Fowler Welch as its IT director, a newly created position for the chilled, ambient and FMCG distribution specialist.
Downes heads up a dedicated team of five IT specialists and is charged with setting and delivering the IT strategy for Fowler Welch.
“It’s exciting to have someone of Matthew’s calibre on board,” says managing director Nick Hay, “His appointment shows our clear commitment to developing the Fowler Welch organisation. The potential efficiencies to be made from an IT-led business infrastructure are enormous. With his experience of distribution and warehousing, we are looking forward to what Matthew is going to bring to Fowler Welch.”
Mathew Downes, newly appointed IT Director at ambient and chilled logistics and distribution organisation, Fowler Welch
Downes spent eight years with Procter & Gamble with involvement in a number of manufacturing and consumer goods roles, including the responsibility for IT systems across three manufacturing sites in the UK, France and Italy. He completed several head office assignments, including a two-year position in Switzerland with responsibility for the commercial and consumer IT systems for P&G’s paper business. His final role with Procter & Gamble saw Downes oversee all purchase-to-payment systems for the EMEA region.
More recently, he was business systems manager with Weetabix in Kettering where he oversaw the successful implementation of the company’s Manhattan warehouse system and was responsible for the IT aspects of outsourcing the warehouse and distribution function to a third party supplier. Again, a spell abroad saw him take on the role of IT Director for Weetabix’s North American operations, based in Boston, USA, for two years.
Downes said, “I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to be part of one of the biggest names in the food logistics and distribution sector. In the short period I’ve been on board, I’ve already seen huge potential to expand the IT function and for it to make a real impact. My Weetabix experience stands me in good stead to implement a new IT strategy across the Fowler Welch business.”
