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Golden Wonder, maker of the Wotsits, Nik Naks and Wheat Crunchies

snack brands, has promoted Paul Boothman to marketing director after the

resignation of Nigel Parrott, who had been in the role for eight

years.

Boothman has been at Golden Wonder for 15 years and was an original

member of the management buyout team of 1995, which bought the company

from its owners Dalgety, for pounds 68m.

He moves over to become marketing director from the post of development

director, where he helped to attain a strategic alliance with US food

giant, General Mills, the fifth-largest food company in the world.

The first fruit of this alliance was the UK launch in March of Bugles,

the cone-shaped corn snack already sold in the US by General Mills.

Further UK launches are planned.

Last year Golden Wonder made profits of pounds 14m on sales of pounds

161m. Bartle Bogle Hegarty handles its advertising.

Parrott said he decided to leave Golden Wonder after eight years because

"there is only so much you can learn in the bagged snacks market".

He has chosen to go into business on his own with three e-commerce

enterprises.

These include treegifts.com, the business that he started with his

family 18 months ago to sell trees online. He is also setting up a joint

venture with a Japanese company to bring children's and babies' products

to Europe.

Parrott said he hoped the site would launch by the end of August.