Roger Mark Whiteside (born 13 June 1958) is a British businessman, the former chief executive (CEO) of

Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as baked goods, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is lis ...

, the largest bakery chain in the United Kingdom.

Early life

He was born in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. His father was in the

British Army The British Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of the United Kingdom. the British Army comprises 73,847 regular full-time personnel, 4,127 Brigade of Gurkhas, Gurkhas, 25,742 Army Reserve (United Kingdom), volunteer reserve perso ...

, and he moved to

RAF Wildenrath Royal Air Force Station Wildenrath, commonly known as RAF Wildenrath, was a Royal Air Force (RAF) military airbase near Wildenrath in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, that operated from 1952 to 1992. Wildenrath was the first of four 'clutch' ...

in Germany. He returned to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

when he was 11 and attended Saint George Catholic College before moving on to Itchen Sixth Form College, then the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

, and gained a First Class degree in economics in 1979.

Career

Marks & Spencer

He joined Marks & Spencer in 1979, and worked with Sir

Richard Greenbury Sir Richard Greenbury (31 July 1936 – 27 September 2017) was an English businessman, and chairman and chief executive of the British retailer Marks and Spencer from 1988 to 1999. During his tenure, the company continued to grow until its profi ...

, and helped to set up the

Simply Food Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

division. He became head of the food division at Marks & Spencer, .

Ocado

He helped to set up

Ocado Ocado Group plc ( ) is a British business based in Hatfield, England, which licenses grocery technology. It also owns a 50% share in the UK grocery retail business Ocado.com (the other 50% is owned by UK retailer Marks & Spencer). The company ...

in 2000, with Tim Steiner, Jason Gissing and Jonathan Faiman. He was joint managing director with Nigel Robertson. Ocado sold products from

Waitrose Waitrose Limited, trading as Waitrose & Partners, is a British supermarket chain, founded in 1904 as Waite, Rose & Taylor, later shortened to Waitrose. In 1937, it was acquired by the John Lewis Partnership, the UK's largest employee-owned b ...

Thresher Group

He was Chief Executive at Thresher Group from 2004 to 2007. The company was placed into administration in September 2009.

Greggs

He became Chief Executive of Greggs on 4 February 2013. Whiteside stepped down as Greggs CEO in May 2022. Animal rights charity

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA; ) is an American animal rights nonprofit organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. Founded in March 1980 by Newkirk and animal rights ...

(PETA) honoured Whiteside's contribution to vegan foods, including the Greggs Vegan Sausage Roll, by naming a rescued pig in his honour.

Personal life

He lives in

Wargrave Wargrave () is a historic village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. The village is primarily on the River Thames but also along the confluence of the River Loddon and lies on the border with southern Oxfordshire. The village has many ol ...

, in

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. He is married with two children. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the

2019 New Year Honours The 2019 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to Women and Equality.

References

1958 births Alumni of the University of Leeds British food industry businesspeople British retail chief executives British technology company founders Living people Marks & Spencer people Officers of the Order of the British Empire Businesspeople from Southampton People from Wargrave {{UK-business-bio-1950s-stub