Tue 14th Jun 2022 - KFC UK & Ireland appoints new general manager KFC UK & Ireland appoints new general manager: KFC UK & Ireland has announced Meghan (Meg) Farren will be returning to the business in the role of general manager. Farren left her role of chief marketing officer KFC UK & Ireland in 2021 for Asda. During her time at Asda she held the role of chief customer officer and was responsible for leading the development and strategy of Asda’s total customer proposition, marketing and management of its brands. KFC UK & Ireland stated: “Meg’s unrivalled ability to inspire the distinctive disruption synonymous with the KFC brand – while delivering year on year sales growth – makes her the perfect next general manager for KFC UK & Ireland. In her ten years at KFC, Meg championed the brand’s shift to a more acute focus on sustainability and social purpose, delivered the highest brand health scores in UK & Ireland’s history and step changed the customer experience through her partnership with operations and finance. Meg is as talented at award winning brand comms as she is making impactful operational transformations, helping the business deliver sustained commercial growth. At KFC, Meg’s leadership saw the brand transform, culminating in it being awarded Brand of the Year in 2021. Her bold and brave approach to marketing resulted in the now infamous FCK campaign in response to the 2018 chicken supply issue. The award-winning apology advert rewrote the manual for crisis management.” KFC global chief executive Sabir Sami said: “Meg’s impact on the KFC brand extends far beyond her ten-year career with our UK & Ireland business. From innovation director in 2011 to her more recent role as chief marketing officer from 2015 to 2021, Meg became well renowned for her bold and brave creative leadership, a champion for our unique culture and her people first approach. Meg is an exceptional leader, her people-grower capability has inspired and developed the UK & Ireland team into a hub for the next generation of leaders at KFC. I am thrilled to welcome Meg back to KFC and excited to see the UK & Ireland business continue to grow under her leadership.” Neil Piper, interim general manager, added: “I couldn't be more excited to welcome Meg back to team KFC, she is a phenomenal leader, someone who understands and cares deeply about our brand, what it takes to win, and epitomises our culture.” Farren, who starts in the autumn, replaces Paula MacKenzie, who left the business earlier this year after five years as its managing director for the UK & Ireland. She has now been appointed chief executive of PizzaExpress.