Packaging News Power 50 2009: 50-41

Each Wednesday until 1 July, when the July issue of Packaging News is published, we will reveal the next 10 people to have made the list. The top 10 will be unveiled on 1 July.

Click here to see numbers 41-30
Click here to see numbers 30-21
Click here to see numbers 20-11
Click here to see the top 10

50 Matthew Benyon (NEW)
Managing director, Easyfairs UK
Benyon has only been at low-cost show organiser Easyfairs UK for two months, having replaced the irrepressible Peter Heath at the head of the business. Yet he is making his mark, as his surprise appearance at the top of the readers’ poll proves. With a pedigree in running international exhibition businesses and a remit to expand Easyfairs, he looks likely to live up to his fans’ expectations.

49 Dominic Walsh (Last year’s position: 40)
Chief executive, MSO Group
It’s been a year of consolidation for Northern Irish sports supporter Dominic Walsh’s MSO Group following the frenetic dealmaking of the previous 12 months. The group now runs just cartons site Cleland in Belfast – which has undergone a £4m upgrade in recent months – and the Labelsco label facility in Leicester. A strategic review of the MSO Group this year has led to a renewed focus on areas including drinks, pharmaceuticals, personal care and cosmetics.

48 Dick Powell (NEW)
Group creative director, Loewy Group
Powell has shot into the Power 50 following his appointment as creative director at design super-group Loewy. Powell, a keen amateur mechanic, remains director of Seymourpowell, the firm he founded, which announced in September it would expand its packaging design work. Powell’s importance in the design sector has been underlined by a string of industry posts – he has sat on the Design Council and the DBA board and has been D&AD president twice, not to mention numerous radio and TV appearances.

47 Robert Opie (50)
Director, Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising
2009 marks two anniversaries for Opie and his museum. The first, 40 years ago, when he pulled six 1930s milk bottles from a pond in Kensington and began his collection of packaging. Second, the Museum of Packaging opened in Gloucester 25 years ago. Now in London’s Notting Hill, this year the museum has focused on the environment, with exhibitions on 1940s frugality and today’s environmental issues. A champion for our industry who the sector should treasure.

46 Nigel Bond (45)
Group managing director, Domino Printing Sciences
It’s been another busy year for dealmaker extraordinaire Nigel Bond, with M&A activity in Europe and Australia reshaping the coding and marking specialist across the globe. It’s been a year of difficult decisions, too, with cost-cutting and a 10% reduction in staff levels also on the agenda. Nevertheless, Bond, in his 11th year as the head of Domino, can be confident of a bright future as demand for anti-counterfeiting and track and trace systems continues to grow.

45 Paul Bettison (NEW)
Environment board chairman, Local Government Association
A Paul Bettison TV appearance is often the sign that packaging is in for a beating. As chairman of the LGA’s environment board, Bettison regularly calls for more work on reducing packaging or improving recyclability – most recently in the War on Waste study in February. The LGA’s impact on public opinion is beyond doubt, yet Bettison is not completely rejected by the sector. “He’s not looking for bandwagons to climb on,” says one observer.

44 John Turner (25)
Chair, Advisory Committee on Packaging
Former Cadbury Schweppes purchasing director and Valpak chief executive John Turner is the ideal candidate to fight packaging’s corner when it comes to negotiating on packaging policy. While much of his work in the past year has been behind the scenes – hence his lower ranking on our list – Turner’s view on the industry remains as respected as ever. “John’s reports should be required reading for anyone in packaging,” says a colleague.

43 Steve Gough (46)
Chief executive, Valpak
Valpak raised eyebrows when it hiked PRN prices earlier this year, but it can take credit for the UK hitting its 2008 recovery targets. As the head of Valpak, Gough, who became chief executive in January 2004, has taken a lead on a raft of green issues. But his real bugbear, colleagues say, is health and safety. “He has been totally focused on setting a leading example in this regard,” says one.

42 Andy Sweetman (NEW)
Global marketing manager, Innovia Films
In the packaging boxing match, Andy Sweetman is most definitely the man in the green corner. In his role as global marketing manager for Innovia Films, Sweetman leads the way in promoting sustainable packaging options. His knowledge of the industry made him an obvious choice to take over as chairman of sector association European Bioplastics at the end of April. “He’s so passionate, but with a good commercial head,” says one industry colleague.

41 Khalid Sheikh (NEW)
Chairman, Clifton Packaging
Ugandan-born Sheikh is aiming to do something no other packaging firm could be hoping for: to make a continent rich through packaging. His inspirational Buy African, Build Africa (BABA) project has won him friends in high places, including an invitation to speak at a conference for African heads of state in June. As the BABA project takes shape, expect Sheikh to become a much more prominent figure in UK packaging.

Next week: numbers 40-31

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