Arla Foods, the UK’s largest dairy cooperative, has appointed Fran Ball as Senior Vice President of UK Supply Chain, effective August 2025. She takes on this role after three years as vice president for production at Arla Foods UK.
With more than two decades of manufacturing expertise and a commitment to diversity and inclusion, Ball will lead the end-to-end UK supply chain activities and oversee a team of over 2,800 colleagues.
This is a newly created role, which will now see Ball leading both production and logistics teams within the UK business, to build a stronger supply chain from “farm to fridge” and strengthen the firm’s focus on customer delivery through empowering local teams.
Ball is a strong advocate of colleague and team development and is dedicated to developing the next generation of diverse supply chain leaders in Arla.
“Leading UK production has been a huge privilege,” she said. “Together, we’ve built a fantastic team focused on manufacturing excellence, an inclusive culture, and securing significant investment in our UK sites, such as Taw Valley and Lockerbie.
“Now as we create a new end-to-end supply chain team, we will continue to build on our collaboration and team working to remain focused on delivering for our customers and adding value for our consumers.”
Bas Padberg, managing director for Arla Foods UK, added: “I’m thrilled to welcome Fran into her new role as SVP of UK Supply Chain. Over the past three years she has demonstrated outstanding leadership, driving innovation and efficiency across our UK sites.
“Her deep manufacturing expertise and commitment to fostering an inclusive culture will be instrumental as we continue to invest in our supply chain and deliver the highest-quality dairy products to our customers and shoppers. I look forward to continuing to work closely with Fran to strengthen our operations and support our ambitious growth plans.”