Ultimate Products appoints Princes Group's Simon Harrison as new CEO

(Sharecast News) - Ultimate Products said on Tuesday that it has appointed Princes Group's Simon Harrison as its new chief executive officer with effect from 26 October.

The company, which owns homeware brands such as Salter, said that Harrison - who is currently CEO at food and drinks group Princes - has more than 25 years of experience in FMCG commercial and leadership across brand and trade marketing, sales and operations.

He joined Princes Group as chief commercial officer in July 2021, before progressing to the role of deputy managing director and subsequently CEO, during which time the business went through a change of ownership and more recently was listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Prior to joining Princes, Harrison spent nearly two decades at Coca Cola European Partners, where he held a range of senior roles.

Harrison is replacing Andrew Gossage, who is stepping down after more than 20 years in executive roles with the group. Following a short sabbatical, Gossage will stay on as a non-executive director from 1 May 2027.

As part of the changes announced, Simon Showman, who founded the business in 1997 and served as CEO until 2024, will move to a non-executive director role with effect from 1 June, while continuing as president and founder.

Chair Christine Adshead said: "We are delighted to welcome someone of Simon Harrison's calibre to Ultimate Products. He brings outstanding leadership qualities, strong operating discipline and considerable commercial experience, and we are confident that he has the right credentials to take Ultimate Products forward into its next chapter. We look forward to welcoming him to the team."

At 1045 BST, the shares were up 2.3% at 49.42p.

House broker Shore Capital said Ultimate Products has made "a quite fabulous appointment, to us, to replace Mr Gossage as CEO.

"Like many in the UK consumer-related equity capital markets, we noted with considerable interest the announcement from Princes Foods on 19 May 2026, that its highly renowned CEO, Simon Harrison, had resigned to explore pastures new. Indeed, Princes Foods' equity was quite notably marked down on the announcement, which, kind of, speaks volumes."

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