Unilever stalwart Bogie set to quit after 17 years

Bogie will depart at the end of the year. The current head of comms at Unilever Home and Personal Care, Emma Flack, will be comms head of the three newly merged Unilever businesses (Foods, Ice Cream and Home and Personal Care).

Over the next year, Unilever is set to close three sales and marketing offices in south-east England, with the loss of up to 350 jobs, including the 40 at senior level.

The 12-strong comms department will be among the raft of teams under ­review as the firm moves its merged operation to Leatherhead, Surrey (PRWeek, 20 July).

Unilever has been restructuring the business under its One Unilever programme for the past two years in a bid to boost flagging figures.

Bogie joined Unilever following corporate comms roles at Bass Brewers and Britvic. After his departure, he intends to pursue freelance roles. ‘I started out as a journalist, so I’m looking at freelance writing,’ he said. Bogie also hopes to fill ­interim postings in corporate comms, focusing on crisis and issues management.

News of Bogie’s exit coincides with the departure of Unilever’s global head of comms Konstance Kann. Her replacement has yet to be announced. Unilever ­retains Blue Rubicon as its corporate agency.