Former Heineken UK CMO succeeds Matt Barwell as Britvic’s top marketer

Britvic CMO Matt Barwell is departing the company in June after nine years at the helm of brands such as Robinsons, Tango and J2O. He will be succeeded by former Heineken UK CMO Cindy Tervoort.

Barwell is credited with “improving the way the company builds brands” during his time at Britvic, as well as overseeing award-winning work and playing a “pivotal role” in the creation of the business’s sustainability programme.

During his time as CMO, Barwell has overseen a revitalisation of Britvic’s flagship brand Robinsons, work for which Britvic won the Grand Prix at the Marketing Week Awards 2019. Under his leadership, the 86-year-long partnership between Robinsons and Wimbledon was also terminated as the brand looked to broaden its reach.

While Barwell says the company “certainly [hasn’t] got everything right” during his time at the business, he believes the “work breaking now across many of these brands… is the best for many a year”. “I hope I depart with the portfolio in better shape than when I arrived,” he adds.

Marketing That Matters: How Britvic rescued Robinsons from decline

As well as work across Britvic’s core brands, Barwell welcomed new brands such as London Essence, Aqua Libra Co and Plenish into the fold, as Britvic eyed entry into new markets such as drink mixers and plant-based milk alternatives.

Barwell’s successor as Britvic CMO – Cindy Tervoort – will begin her new role at the start of July. The former Heineken UK CMO is currently managing director of Beerwulf.com, Heineken’s ecommerce platform for craft beers. She took on the role in 2020, after four years leading marketing for Heineken’s brands in the UK.

Much like Barwell, who spent his career at Mars and Diageo prior to joining Britvic, Tervoort is an experienced FMCG marketing leader.

Before being hired as UK CMO for Heineken, she was a marketer at PepsiCo, where she held roles such as marketing director, Western Europe and vice-president of marketing for cereals in Europe and Africa.

Prior to that, she spent 10 years at Unilever between 1995 and 2005, latterly as a marketing manager for beverages.

Britvic CEO Simon Litherland says he welcomes Tervoort to Britvic as the company continues to pursue “growing [its] reputation for world class brand building through marketing and innovation”.

“I would also like to personally thank Matt for his contribution to the success of Britvic over almost a decade, and wish him well for the future,” Litherland says.

Barwell has not confirmed his next steps, other than saying on LinkedIn he plans to take the summer to “decompress” before moving to “the next chapter”.

Tervoort’s appointment follows the arrival of Munnawar Chishty, who joined as Britvic’s GB marketing director in February. She joined from Walgreens Boots Alliance, taking over from Bruce Dallas, who transitioned to Britvic’s commercial growth director.