Roger Mark Whiteside OBE (born 13 June 1958)[1] is a British businessman, the former chief executive (CEO) of Greggs, the largest bakery chain in the United Kingdom.[2]

Early life

He was born in Fulham. His father was in the British Army, and he moved to RAF Wildenrath in Germany. He returned to Southampton when he was 11 and attended Saint George Catholic College before moving on to Itchen Sixth Form College,[3] then the University of Leeds, and gained a First Class degree in economics in 1979.[4]

Career

Greggs bakery

Marks & Spencer

He joined Marks & Spencer in 1979, and worked with Sir Richard Greenbury, and helped to set up the Simply Food division. He became head of the food division at Marks & Spencer, with Nigel Robertson.

Ocado

He helped to set up Ocado in 2000, with Tim Steiner, Jason Gissing and Jonathan Faiman. He was joint managing director with Nigel Robertson.[5] Ocado sold products from Waitrose.

Thresher Group

He was Chief Executive at Thresher Group from 2004 to 2007. The company was placed into administration in September 2009.

Greggs

He became Chief Executive of Greggs on 4 February 2013.

Whiteside stepped down as Greggs CEO in May 2022.[6] Animal rights charity People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) honoured Whiteside's contribution to vegan foods, including the Greggs Vegan Sausage Roll, by naming a rescued pig in his honour.[7]

Personal life

He lives in Wargrave, in Berkshire. He is married with two children.

He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2019 New Year Honours for services to Women and Equality.[8]

References

  1. ↑ "GREGGS PLC - Officers (free information from Companies House)". Beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  2. ↑ "Stocks". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  3. ↑ "Itchen College :: Guest Speaker: Roger Whiteside, CEO of Greggs". www.itchen.ac.uk.
  4. ↑ Armstrong, Ashley (7 November 2015). "Greggs' boss says global growth is 'impossible'" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  5. ↑ Mills, Lauren (9 November 2003). "Joint managing directors are poised to leave Ocado" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  6. ↑ Finch, Hannah (16 May 2022). "How Greggs became great with Roger Whiteside - and the woman replacing him". Business Live. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Love Greggs' Vegan Sausage Rolls? You'll Love Roger the Pig, Too!". PETA UK. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022.
  8. ↑ "New Year Honours list 2019" (PDF). GOV.UK. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2019.


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