Aryzta, the speciality bakery company, has announced further changes to its senior management team. Keith Cooper has been appointed chief executive of Aryzta’s North American division on an interim basis to fill the gap left after the departure of the previous chief executive John Yamin in March this year.

Cooper is a former managing director with FTI Consulting and will focus on business optimisation and efficiency improvements.

Aryzta’s North American business has been struggling in recent years and dragged down group profit margins. Third quarter results released last month, showed underlying revenues in Aryzta’s North American division declined 4.3% to €474m, primarily due to a 6.7% decline in volumes.

This was the biggest decline in sales volume for 18 months and was only partially offset by a 2.4% increase in pricing.

Aryzta have also announced the departure of long-serving Ronan Minahan as chief operations officer of the North America division, who is stepping down to pursue other interests.