How long has ian cook been the ceo of colegate

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US consumer group Colgate Palmolive has replaced its British born CEO Ian Cook with the group’s COO Noel Wallace.

Cook, 66, has served as Colgate’s CEO since January 2009 and become chairman and CEO in July of last year.

Cook will continue to serve as executive chairman after the handover to Wallace on 2 April, but only for a period of up to twelve months as part of a leadership transition.

Colgate said the move is “in with the company’s well-established long-term succession planning process”

Wallace, 54, has been Colgate’s president and chief operating officer since July 2018 and has served in a variety of roles since joining the group in 1987.

In 2002 he took responsibility for its global toothbrush division and has subsequently led its business in Mexico and the US as well as leading its global sustainability strategy. In 2013, he became President, Colgate Latin America and, in 2016, was named chief operating officer, global innovation & growth and Hill’s Pet Nutrition.

Cook said: “Noel is a truly outstanding leader who is extremely well-prepared to lead Colgate after a highly successful 32-year career guiding Colgate businesses all around the world.

“Over the last decade, his senior leadership roles have demonstrated his expertise in formulating and executing global strategy and in guiding operational performance. He is exactly the right leader to take the reins as Colgate’s CEO now. He and the Company’s next generation of leaders have my complete confidence.”

Wallace added: “With our innovation and growth strategy generating renewed momentum and a highly energized team of Colgate leaders around the world, I am extremely excited about our future. I look forward to working with all Colgate people as we enter a new phase of growth, taking full advantage of our longstanding strengths and developing new ones to seize emerging opportunities.”

Stephen Sadove, the lead director of Colgate’s board of directors commented: “It’s very gratifying to see the Board’s succession planning process, which began more than two years ago, come to fruition with the happy result of Noel’s election as President and CEO, and as a member of the Board.

“Noel brings exceptional experience and integrity to the job of leading Colgate, together with a sharp focus on accelerating growth. We’re extremely grateful for Ian’s strong leadership as CEO and we are pleased that he has agreed, at the Board’s request, to provide transition guidance to Noel as executive chairman.”

The move is one of a number of leadership changes at large global consumer groups in recent times, with the CEO roles at Unilever, PepsiCo and Beiersdorf all changing hands over the past few months.

Morning update

Finnish food group Raisio has reported a drop in sales and profits in 2018 as it was hit by difficult market conditions in Russia and Poland and a poor harvest in Finland.

The Group’s net sales fell to €228.2m from €234.6m in 2017, with comparable EBIT down to €25.6m from €35.9m.

Headline EBIT was down to €16.6m from €54.1m once the one-off profit of €28m related to the sale of its Southall factory is stripped out of the results.

However, momentum improved in the fourth quarter with sales up to €55.6m from €53.7m in the same period last year, though comparable EBIT slipped to €5m from €6.7m.

CEO Pekka Kuusniemi said 2018 was “a period of strong renewal and construction of the new for Raisio”.

In 2018 it was hit by the Russian fish feed import ban, which reduced EBIT by €2.5m in the year.

Additionally, weak consumer markets in Russia and Poland cost the group €2m while an “exceptionally poor harvest” in Finland and an increase in grain prices decreased overall profitability.

Raisio has identified the problem areas in Russia and Poland, carried out corrective measures and managed to turn the direction of the businesses, while the Russian border was reopened in December.

Its Benecol product range expanded into new categories in the year, with increased marketing investment. “In our key Benecol product markets, we have started long-term work to increase healthcare professionals’ knowledge on cholesterol and on safe and effective Benecol products proven to lower cholesterol,” Kuusniemi said.

In 2019, Raisio expects its net sales for continuing operations to grow and comparable EBIT margin to grow to over 10% of net sales.

On the markets this morning, the FTSE 100 is up another 0.4% to 7,160.1pts this morning.

Early risers include Bakkavor (BAKK), up 2.9% to 144p, Ocado (OCDO), up 2.3% to 961p and B&M European Value Retail (BME), up 1.6% to 329.7p.

Fallers so far include McColl’s (MCLS), down 2.4% to 53.3p, Premier Foods (PFD), down 1.9% to 36p and Britvic (BVIC), down 1.8% to 895.5p.

Yesterday in the City

The FTSE 100 was boosted 0.8% to 7,129.1pts yesterday by more positive sentiment around US/China trade relations and a further slip in the value of the pound, which dropped to US$1.2864.

Ocado (OCDO) regained some ground after the fire at its Andover customer fulfilment centre wiped more than £1bn off its value last week, but rising 3.9% back to 939.4p.

Also on the up were Just Eat (JE) on potential merger talks, up 3.8% to 730.8p, FeverTree (FEVR), up 2.6% to 2,719p, Cranswick (CWK), up 2.4% to 2,610p, British American Tobacco (BATS) and B&M European Value Retail (BME), up 2.2% to 324.6p.

Other risers included McColl’s (MCLS), up 3% to 54.6p, Nichols (NICL), up 2.5% to 1,445p and Greene King (GNK), up 2.2% to 608p.

The delay in the Competition & Markets Authority’s investigation into the merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda did not dent City confidence in the deal, with Sainsbury’s up 0.7% to 293.9p.

The few fallers yesterday included Hilton Food Group (HFG), down 2.25 to 894p, McBride (MCB), down 1.8% to 134.5p, CAKE Box (CBOX), down 1.5% to 164p, Treatt (TET), down 1.3% to 423.5p and PayPoint (PAY), down 1.3% to 870p.

Ian M. Cook is a British businessman. He served as the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Colgate-Palmolive.

Cook was born in Great Britain. He graduated from London Guildhall University, now known as London Metropolitan University in 1975.

Cook joined Colgate-Palmolive in the United Kingdom in 1976. From 2002 to 2005, he served as executive vice president. In 2004, he was appointed chief operating officer, with responsibility for operations in North America, Europe, Central Europe, Asia and Africa. In 2005, he became president and continued to serve as COO. He was elected president, chief executive officer and joined the board of directors in 2007. In 2009, he became chairman of the board of directors, and continued on as president and CEO. In 2011, he earned over US$14 million.

Cook has served on the board of directors of PepsiCo since March 14, 2008. He is also a director of Catalyst, and the Consumer Goods Forum. He received the Legend in Leadership Award from the Yale School of Management in 2015.

Ian Cook

Awarded an Honorary Doctor of Business Administration by the University in 2015, Ian Cook is Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Colgate-Palmolive Company.

Ian graduated from London Guildhall University, a predecessor institution of London Met, with a Business and Marketing BA in 1975.

In 1976 he started his career at Colgate, where he rapidly progressed through a series of senior marketing and management roles around the world. Ian became Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for operations in North America, Europe, Central Europe, Asia and Africa in 2004.

Ian was promoted to President and Chief Operating Officer, responsible for all Colgate operations worldwide in 2005. He was then elected President and Chief Executive Officer in 2007, elected Director in 2007 and Chairman in 2009.

Ian has been a long-time champion of Colgate’s global oral health improvement initiatives. Through the ‘Bright Smiles, Bright Futures’ oral health program, Colgate has reached more than 800 million children in over 80 countries and in 30 languages with oral health education programs recognised by dental health agencies around the world.

There can be no doubt about the fact that Ian Cook is the current head of Colgate-Palmolive. For proof, look no further than the fact that he holds not one, not two, but three powerful positions in the corporation, which are the CEO, the President, and the Chairman of the Board. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about Ian Cook:

1. Ian Has Passed Through a Number of Languages

Ian is one of those interesting names that have passed through a number of languages. In short, it is the Anglicized version of the Scottish Iain, which in turn, can be traced to the Hebrew Yohanan. This means that Ian shares a name origin with a wide range of other names such as John and Jonathan.

2. Cook Is an Occupational Name

Cook is a name that means pretty much exactly what most people would expect because it is an occupational name. With that said, it seems to be a pretty old name as well, with some people suggesting that it can be traced back as far as the Anglo-Saxons who swept into post-Roman Britain.

3. Is British

It should be mentioned that Cook is British, seeing as how he was born in the United Kingdom. Generally speaking, British people tend to have an easier time rising up the ranks in American companies and vice versa when compared to a lot of other nationalities, which makes sense because a shared language counts for a lot.

4. Graduated from London Guildhall University

Cook went to a school called London Guildhall University. For those who are curious, the school came into existence in the Victorian Age when the Bishop of London called for the establishment of evening classes for the purpose of improving the condition of young men living in London. Some people might wonder why they have never heard of London Guildhall University. If so, they should know that it merged with another school in 2002 to create what is now called London Metropolitan University.

5. Joined Colgate-Palmolive in the 1970s

To get an idea of just how long Cook has been at Colgate-Palmolive, it should be mentioned that he joined its United Kingdom operations in the 1970s. This means that he can claim a lot of experience with the corporation, which has helped him reach his current position.

6. Became COO in 2004

Unsurprisingly, Cook rose up through the ranks of Colgate-Palmolive over the course of his career. For instance, it was in 2004 that he winded up becoming the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the corporation, which was a position of incredible responsibility because it involved him overseeing operations in no fewer than five regions on four continents.

7. Became CEO and President in 2005

With that said, it wasn’t too long before Cook winded up becoming both CEO and President of Colgate-Palmolive in 2005. This was not particularly unsurprising, seeing as how COOs often wind up becoming CEOs because the position is often considered to be the second-in-command on the corporate hierarchy, thus making the move a natural promotion.

8. Believes that Integrity Is a Core Component of Leadership

Cook has stated that he sees integrity as a core component of leadership. Essentially, integrity inspires a sense of trust in other people. In turn, that sense of trust is what enables leaders to convince other people to follow their leadership.

9. Believes that Consistency Is Important As Well

Besides integrity, Cook has spoken about the importance of consistency as well. In his view, consistency means creating a sense of reliability by showing good judgment on a wide range of business matters. This matters because it tells people that they can have faith in a leader’s choices being the right ones under the current circumstances, which serves to minimize internal tensions.

10. Courage Completes the Trio

Finally, Cook has mentioned the value of courage, so much so that it is the third of the three characteristics that he sees making up leadership. For him, courage is essentially the courage to do the right thing even when it is tough, which makes sense because without it, the other two characteristics would be hopelessly undermined.