Lakeland Dairies has appointed Oliver McAllister as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). A native of Antrim, McAllister has previously worked as CFO at both Dale Farm Limited and Foyle Food Group.

McAllister is replacing the long-serving current CFO Peter Sheridan who has been with Lakeland Dairies for over 40 years. McAllister is departing his current role as CFO with pharmaceuticals company Norbrook to take up the role at Lakeland. He said that he is “excited to be joining Lakeland Dairies at such an important time for the company”.

Group CEO of Lakeland Colin Kelly welcomed the appointment, saying that McAllister has a “ tremendous track-record of innovation, strategic thinking, and business growth”, while also lauding his “deep, intrinsic and invaluable understanding of the co-operative sector as well as the wider agri-food industry”.

He added that McAllister joins Lakeland at an exciting time for the co-operative, as it continues to execute its “foundations for a better future” strategy. McAllister holds a BSc in finance from Queen’s University Belfast and is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland.