Guy Smith appointed CFO at CJ Lang & Son

CJ Lang & Son Ltd has appointed Guy Smith as chief financial officer (CFO) in a newly created role.

Smith joined the wholesaler for SPAR in Scotland in June following the departure of finance director Craig Tedford. He joins the business from Costa Coffee where he was interim finance director forCosta Express, and was involved in the sale of the company to Coca-Cola.

Smith has a long career spanning back to Unilever where he joined their graduate scheme in 1990 and subsequently worked in their UK and overseas operations. Twelve years with Coca-Cola followed with much of that time spent in Asia as financial director and more latterly in the same role at Coca-Cola GB and Ireland.

In 2011 Smith moved to Rentokil Initial and in 2015 Serco where he held the position of division financial director.

Guy Smith said: “CJ Lang is investing for the long term whilst executing a customer-focused strategy to build independent convenience retailing, encourage local shopping and build brand loyalty. It’s not every day that you get the opportunity to work for one of the most prominent family-owned Scottish businesses and I am excited to further solidify CJ Lang as the leader in the Scottish convenience market.”

Colin McLean, CJ Lang chief executive, added: “Guy is a very experienced CFO with an extensive financial understanding across a diverse range of companies, both nationally and internationally. He brings more 30 years of financial leadership. We welcome Guy to the business and look forward to working closely with him as we move to the next stage of our transformation programme.”

Smith lives in Edinburgh and is married with two children at university.