Jan Boone, Non-Executive Chairman

Jan was appointed Non-Executive Chairman of the Group on 13th July 2017 following the acquisition of Ecuphar NV.

Committee membership

Member of the Audit Committee and the Remuneration and Nomination Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Jan is Chief Executive Officer of Lotus Bakeries which is listed on Euronext Brussels. He started his career in the audit department at PricewaterhouseCoopers and holds a master’s degree in Applied Economics from KU Leuven and a master’s degree in Audit from the University of Mons-Hainaut in Belgium. Between 2000 and 2005, Jan served as Head of Corporate Controlling and Member of the Executive Committee of Omega Pharma NV. He became Managing Director of Lotus Bakeries in 2005 and Chief Executive Officer in 2011 and also serves as a Non-Executive Director of Club Brugge.

Jenny Winter, Chief Executive Officer

Jenny was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of the Group on 1st October 2018.

Committee membership

By invitation

Relevant skills and experience

Jenny has over 20 years’ experience in the pharmaceuticals sector including various senior commercial roles at AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline. Before her appointment, she was Vice-President of Respiratory products – Global Supply Chain and Strategy at AstraZeneca, a position she held from 2015. Other roles at AstraZeneca included Vice-President Cardiology – Global Product and Portfolio Strategy, Commercial Director – Eastern Europe, Marketing Company President Hungary, where she led a major change programme to drive future success and Global Vice President, Group Public Affairs.

Jenny has also been CEO of the charity Barretstown, transforming it into a successful leading children’s charity. Her work at the charity resulted in her being asked by Barretstown board member Dermot Gleeson, Chairman of Allied Irish Bank, to join the Board of the bank as a Non-Executive Director, a role she held from 2004 to 2010.

Jenny has a BSc in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of Southampton.

Chris Brewster, Chief Financial Officer and Company Secretary

Chris was appointed Chief Financial Officer in June 2012.

Committee membership

By invitation

Relevant skills and experience

Chris has a broad range of experience gained during his ten years of working across a number of functions at KPMG and through his role as Group Accounting Manager at Findus Group. Since joining Animalcare, he developed the systems, controls and management information needed to support the growth and strategy of the UK business.

Post-merger, Chris has taken responsibility for the changes required within the Finance and IT functions to create a robust platform for growth and more recently supporting the integration of the Group.

Chris Cardon, Non-Executive Director

Chris was appointed Non-Executive Director on 24th July 2019.  Chris was previously Chief Strategy Officer from 1st October 2018 and prior to that, Chris was previously Chief Executive Officer of Ecuphar NV and on its acquisition in July 2017 was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the Group.

Committee membership

By invitation

Relevant skills and experience

Chris graduated as a pharmacist from the University of Ghent in 1993 after which he took over his family’s pharmacy business. In 1995, he completed an MBA at the Vlerick Leuven-Gent Management School.

Chris has a strong entrepreneurial background in human OTC product development and in 1996 he established Mooss-Pharma NV, a company which developed human OTC products that were exclusively distributed by pharmacists and became a key player in the Belgian market. In 2001, the OTC assets of Mooss-Pharma were acquired by Omega Pharma NV. Chris then founded Ecuphar NV as Chris Cardon NV in 2001 to capitalise on opportunities identified in the animal health industry and grew the company through a successful focus on product portfolio development.

Chris received the prestigious award “Export Lion of Flanders 2005” in the Young Exporters category.

Marc Coucke, Non-Executive Director

Marc was appointed as a Non-Executive Director on 13th July 2017 following the acquisition of Ecuphar NV.

Committee membership

Member of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Marc graduated as a pharmacist from the University of Ghent after which he completed an MBA at the Vlerick Leuven-Gent Management School.

Marc founded Omega Pharma NV in 1987, developing the company into a leading pan-European OTC health and personal care business and serving as both Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Following the sale of Omega Pharma in 2015 to Perrigo Company plc, he invests via his private investment firm, Alychlo NV, in several listed and non-listed companies.

He currently serves as Chairman of Mithra Pharmaceuticals and as Non-Executive Director of Fagron, both Belgian companies, in addition to a number of private companies. As Chief Executive Officer of Omega Pharma, he was awarded the EY Flemish Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002.

Nick Downshire, Independent Non-Executive Director

Nick joined the Board of Animalcare in 2008 when it was acquired by Ritchey plc for whom he was a director from 1998.

Committee membership

Chairman of the Audit Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Nick is a qualified chartered accountant who worked in corporate finance and venture capital before becoming the finance director of a software company. He has held non-executive directorships in a diverse range of businesses in the insurance, agricultural, hospitality, education and technology sectors.

Nick runs an estate in Yorkshire and is a former Chairman of the CLA for Yorkshire, as well as acting as a Trustee for a number of charitable and land related trusts. He is a council member and chairs the Audit Committee for the Duchy of Lancaster.

His experience with other organisations and his professional background assist him in chairing and bringing objectivity and analysis to the Audit Committee.

Ed Torr, Independent Non-Executive Director, Senior Independent Director

Ed was appointed as a Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director on 13th July 2017 following the acquisition of Ecuphar NV. On 16th February 2019, Ed was appointed Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee.

Committee membership

Member of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Remuneration and Nomination Committee

Relevant skills and experience

Ed has significant experience of international veterinary and animal health markets, gained over a period of more than 20 years, during which time he has worked for ICI, Pitman Moore, Alfa Laval Agri and Dechra Pharmaceuticals.

He was part of the management buyout team that set up Dechra Veterinary Products in 1997 and was an executive director on the board of the Dechra entity listed on the London Stock Exchange from 2000 until 2013. During this time, he was responsible for business development and managing the European business unit, and was instrumental in setting up the US business.

Since 2014, Ed has independently advised various companies on sales and marketing structures, M&A opportunities, “in” and “out” licensing of products and investment opportunities within the veterinary and animal health market sector.