IN Brief:
- Steve Murrells will join Samworth Brothers as chief executive in January 2027, ahead of Simon Wookey's retirement in June.
- Murrells previously led Hilton Foods, the Co-operative Group and Tulip, bringing experience in food manufacturing and grocery retail.
- Samworth's operations span prepared meals, sandwiches, savoury pastries, protein products and chilled distribution.
Samworth Brothers has appointed Steve Murrells as its next chief executive, with the former Hilton Foods and Co-operative Group leader joining the UK food manufacturer in January 2027. He will work alongside current chief executive Simon Wookey ahead of Wookey’s planned retirement in June.
The appointment establishes a transition period for the family-owned business behind Ginsters, Soreen, Higgidy and several major prepared-food manufacturing operations. Wookey has worked at Samworth Brothers for eight years and has served as chief executive since 2024, having previously held the chief commercial officer role.
Murrells was chief executive of Hilton Foods from 2022 until 2025. Earlier in his career, he led the Co-operative Group and meat processor Tulip, following senior positions in the grocery sector that included Tesco. His experience covers food manufacturing, retail supply arrangements and the commercial relationships linking processors with major supermarket customers.
Samworth Brothers supplies supermarkets, convenience retailers, hospitality venues and foodservice customers. Its own corporate information identifies more than 12,500 employees and annual production exceeding one billion food products, with operations across the United Kingdom and a site in Dublin. The range of products manufactured places different demands on factory equipment, food safety systems and distribution networks.
The group is active in food-to-go products, savoury pastry, prepared meals and protein processing. Each category operates to different production schedules and shelf-life requirements. Sandwiches and chilled salads depend on rapid assembly, packaging and distribution, while cooked meats and prepared meals can involve controlled heating, cooling and additional hygiene requirements.
Manufacturing food-to-go products involves particularly close coordination between production and customer orders. Fresh sandwiches and salads have limited shelf lives, so stock made too early may become unsuitable for sale before it reaches the end customer. Frequent order changes also affect ingredient preparation, production scheduling and the quantities of finished packs dispatched.
Samworth’s savoury pastry operations include Ginsters products and the group’s Melton Mowbray pork pie businesses. Manufacturing requirements include pastry preparation, portioning, filling, forming, cooking and packaging. Product consistency depends on ingredient specification, processing conditions and weight control, while changes between recipes or formats affect the time available for production.
The group’s meals division manufactures prepared foods across several cuisines, requiring its facilities to manage a broad range of ingredients and finished-product specifications. Production controls must account for the correct handling of allergens, ingredients and packaging materials as well as the requirements of the chosen cooking and cooling process.
In protein processing, Samworth manufactures sausages, cooked and cured meats, and pâtés. These categories introduce additional controls relating to raw material handling, processing temperatures, hygiene and the separation of manufacturing activities where appropriate. The business’s range therefore extends beyond the branded pastry and bakery products for which it is widely recognised.
Distribution is another substantial part of the operation. Samworth Brothers Supply Chain operates temperature-controlled distribution facilities in Leicester, Penrith, Callington and Bristol, serving chilled food supply requirements. The group also operates Food for Now, which provides daily food-to-go distribution to retail outlets using a dedicated delivery fleet.
Maintaining chilled distribution involves coordinating manufacturing schedules with collection, warehousing and delivery. Products must remain within their specified handling conditions, while route planning and stock rotation influence the usable shelf life available when food reaches customers. These functions are closely connected with factory output because a manufacturing increase is commercially useful only when finished products can be delivered within their required time limits.
Samworth also operates Westward Laboratories in Cornwall, providing food testing and related technical services. The laboratory forms part of the group’s wider food safety infrastructure, separate from the production lines themselves. Quality assurance and laboratory assessment support decisions about product specifications, shelf life and compliance across different manufacturing categories.
Murrells brings experience of the supplier-retailer relationship from several perspectives. At Hilton Foods, his responsibilities included a business supplying processed and packed protein products to retail customers. At the Co-op, he led a retail organisation that purchased food from manufacturers and managed distribution through its own store network. The two roles involved different commercial interests within the same food supply system.
Samworth chairman Mark Samworth welcomed the appointment, citing Murrells’ experience across food and retail. The company has not announced a new manufacturing investment programme, factory reorganisation or acquisition alongside the succession. It would therefore be premature to attribute specific future operational decisions to the incoming chief executive.
The agreed handover gives Murrells time to become familiar with Samworth’s manufacturing divisions and customer arrangements while Wookey remains involved. The transition also provides continuity for decisions already under way, including routine capital expenditure, capacity planning and long-term supply contracts, without establishing that any particular programme will change.
Wookey joined Samworth Brothers in 2019 after senior roles at other food businesses, including 2 Sisters Food Group, Maple Leaf Foods and Greencore. He subsequently became chief commercial officer and was appointed chief executive in 2024. The company says he intends to pursue other projects following his departure.
Murrells’ arrival in January will begin the formal transfer of leadership responsibilities. Wookey’s June retirement provides the end point for that process, with the company’s existing manufacturing, distribution and customer operations continuing through the planned succession.
