Daughter set to take helm at Kerfoot Group

Jennifer Kerfoot, 31, will succeed her father, David Kerfoot, as CEO of the Kerfoot Group, which is based in Northallerton, North Yorkshire.

In her new role, Ms Kerfoot, who used to work for a leading financial services firm in the City of London, will be responsible for developing the £80m turnover business, which employs around 120 staff. Mr Kerfoot, who founded the business 32 years ago, will stay on as chairman following the handover to his eldest daughter at the beginning of the new financial year.

Yesterday, Ms Kerfoot said she hoped to turn the Kerfoot Group into a £100m turnover business within four years, and confirmed that the company was “proactively looking for acquisitions”.

She added: “I want to really play on the credibility and heritage that the Kerfoot Group has got. We’ve got lots to sing and dance about.”

As a teenager, Ms Kerfoot used to work on the company’s reception desk, and also helped to count out the wage packets. She studied Spanish and management at St Andrews University in Scotland, where one of her housemates played water polo with Prince William.

After graduating, she gained a place on the MBNA European graduate programme, and went on to work for a London-based executive search company.

She joined the Kerfoot Group in 2009, and is currently responsible for the company’s packed oils division. She spends much of her time working with major clients as well as travelling extensively to source new oil suppliers. She is also the group’s people director, which means she heads the human resources department.

“People’s food needs and desires are changing all the time,’’ she said.

Mr Kerfoot, who started the Kerfoot Group in his back bedroom with £300 in 1980, said yesterday: “She has the experience of working for an American bank in the City, and gained a lot of skills down there. She is very skilled in looking at strategy in the longer term. She has got excellent people management skills and motivational skills.

“She has completely taken to our business,’’ he said. “The most important lesson I have learned is about how to manage risk, and understanding the breadth of the risks that you are open to. The last three years have been the best years we’ve had.”

Mr Kerfoot believes entrepreneurs must have a social conscience.

He has been an independent monitor at Northallerton prison for 26 years, and helps the management to make tough decisions, such as deciding whether sex offenders and victims of bullying should be segregated. While studying at Sheffield Polytechnic, he wrote a thesis on the economic consequences of football hooliganism.

He built the business with help from his wife, Elizabeth, an accountant, and a small team. The Kerfoot Group, which has bases in Northallerton and Goole, packs, blends and distributes edible and technical oils such as rapeseed, sunflower, soyabean and maize.

The group’s terminal in Goole can accommodate ships of up to 5,000 tonnes, and Kerfoot’s commodity team monitors the trading floors of Rotterdam, Chicago and Kuala Lumpur to detect movements in availability and price.

Mr Kerfoot was awarded the MBE in 2009 for services to business and the community. He’s also been a long term supporter of the charity Breadline, which helps poor communities in Moldova. Mr Kerfoot helped to establish the Pendragon Community Trust, which provides support for people with multiple handicaps and their families.

Joining a small band

Jennifer Kerfoot will join a tiny number of female CEOs when she takes charge of the Kerfoot Group in April 2013.

Although she worked at her family’s firm when she was growing up, Ms Kerfoot had never planned to lead the business.

She recalled yesterday: “I was eager to follow my own path and do my own thing.”

Ms Kerfoot said she gained an insight into the “hard and tough world of finance” as the only woman on a graduate programme run by MBNA.

Her interest in commodities was re-ignited by a stint on the commodities desk at an executive search company.

“I knew ultimately I wanted to come back to Yorkshire,’’ she said.