Vinita Bali to leave Britannia by month end

BANGALORE: Britannia Industries, part of the Wadia Group, said that its high-profile managing director Vinita Bali would retire at the end of March, a decision that was approved by the company board on Tuesday.
“Vinita Bali will retire at the end of this fiscal year (2013-14) to pursue a variety of roles in the corporate and development sectors. She will be succeeded by Varun Berry as MD, consistent with the succession plan put in place last year,” said Britannia.Bali joined Britannia in January 2005 and took over as company MD the following year when its revenues stood at Rs 1,817 crore. In her nine-year stint, Bali steered Britannia to a $1 billion entity, with the company reporting revenues of Rs 6,185 crore in the last fiscal.
The company statement said that Bali would continue to serve on the boards of the other Wadia Group companies like Bombay Dyeing, Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation and Go Airlines. She would also continue to be associated with the Britannia Nutrition Foundation, a social initiative that was started by her.
Britannia’s new MD, Berry, joined the company as COO in January last year from Pepsico and was subsequently elevated to executive director in November.