People: Boyd on board at cake-maker 

AIM-traded cake, bread and ‘morning goods’ maker Finsbury Food has appointed experienced food sector numbers man Stephen Boyd as finance director ‘with immediate effect’.

Boyd, a relatively youthful 47 years old, brings to Finsbury his wealth of experience gleaned at some key positions with the likes of WT Foods, Noon Products and Golden Wonder, where, tellingly, he worked in tandem with recently appointed Finsbury CEO John Duffy, who insists Finsbury will ‘reap the benefits’ of Boyd’s ‘extensive industry experience’.

Boyd appears suitably well qualified to oversee financial improvement at Finsbury, having most recently worked with Food Investors LLP, where he was part of a team investing in private equity-backed businesses and acted as a corporate performance improvement consultant.

Alongside the appointment news, Finsbury, the second-largest player in the £1.51 billion UK cake industry, says it continued to trade in line with the market’s expectations – analysts are looking for a £5.2 million pre-tax return on £186 million sales this year.

Shares in Finsbury, which have fluctuated between 33p and 12.5p over the past 52-weeks, are currently swapping hands for 21.5p, valuing the business at £11.3 million.