With little clarity on our future trading relationship with the EU, many bosses are trying to hedge exposure to any fallout by looking for less volatile markets.
Greencore has done the opposite. Last October the country’s largest sandwich maker accepted a $1bn (£760m) offer for its American business, making itself fully dependent on the British market. The retreat was a strategic U-turn, coming just two years after Greencore splurged almost $750m on US convenience food manufacturer Peacock.
Now Greencore’s long-serving and highly regarded chief executive Patrick Coveney — brother of Simon, Ireland’s minister for foreign affairs and trade — must convince investors that the future is bright in Britain.
Coveney has quadrupled the size of Greencore’s £1bn food-to-go business (sandwiches, salads and the like) over