Britannia veteran Ali Harris Shere steps down as marketing head, joins ITC

Britannia veteran Ali Harris Shere has stepped down as the marketing head of the company and has joined Kolkata-headquartered ITC as the chief operating officer of its biscuits, cakes and foods business division. 

He joins ITC with over two decades of experience in the field of sales and marketing. Shere who played several roles in Britannia, joined the foods major as a management trainee in 1998 and rose to become the marketing director in a career spanning over 21 years at the company. According to the diversified conglomerate ITC, he will be reporting to Hemant Malik, divisional chief executive - foods.

Vinay Subramanyam, erstwhile head of Britannia's joint venture with Greek confectionary major Chipita,  has taken over as head of marketing at Britannia, said the company. He comes with over 17 years of sales and marketing experience in the FMCG sector.

According to reports, demand for senior hires is on the rise in the country. A TimesJobs Recruitex report indicates senior professionals with over 20 years of work experience have noted 17 per cent growth in month-on-month comparison of talent demand in August. 

However, industry experts say appointments such as that of Harris’s are usual corporate moves. “These kind of lateral moves within the same category keep happening all the time. This means the core competence of people who move remains focussed on the core category from which they come,” said Harish Bijoor, founder and CEO of Bijoor Consults.