Weleda UK’s managing director Bob Ballard has announced he will retire this April, after 16 years with the company.
Roger Barsby has been promoted to operations director, responsible for supply chain, production and support processes while Jayn Sterland now handles sales and marketing for the company’s natural pharmaceuticals and cosmetics.
Barsby said: “Weleda UK has a strong heritage developed over nine decades in business. We have built a sound knowledge base, specialist capabilities and committed teams second to none. Our task is to now integrate these skills into a world class organisation to fully support Weleda’s global market activities. Our biodynamic growing areas are unique in the UK and, coupled with our modern manufacturing facilities, allow us to produce anthroposophic medicines of the highest quality to serve all the needs of doctors, pharmacists, retailers and consumers.”
Sterland is looking forward to her new role: “I find working at Weleda inspirational. Our products are beyond comparison due to the highest quality of active ingredients used – very often home-grown or farmed through our fifty fairly-traded partnerships around the world which we are proud to have established. We have over ninety years of expertise, and our company and day to day work is very much shaped by our anthroposophic principles. It is testament to the standard of the manufacturing and vision of Weleda’s founders that some of our very early products from the 1920s are still going strong today.”
“Our product development process begins with identifying the key lead plant, and where it will be grown, with our pharmacists and farmers, then it is a five year development process to cultivate the plants and formulate the products. We have some ground breaking new developments planned and I am very excited to be part of the team that will be launching these in the UK.”
