Lake District brand herdy announced Kevin Roberts' appointment at the launch of its new Kendal shop which opened last month. Diane and Spencer Hannah, co-founders of herdy, have appointed ex-Saatchi executive Kevin Roberts as chair of the company with a view to taking herdy into the next exciting stage of growth for the business.

Already recognised as a Lake District icon, herdy played a pivotal role as the face of the successful Lake District World Heritage bid and has also been a force for good for Cumbria’s upland fell farming community and economy through the herdyfund.

Diane Hannah says, “We are essentially a design led business, with every item designed in-house from conception through to point of sale, Kevin brings a wealth of experience at the highest level of design and branding and we are very excited about the future of herdy. We have been working with Kevin for the past three years during which time the company has grown by 150%, however we have also nurtured a friendship and special relationship, it feels as though nothing is impossible with Kevin on board.”

Spencer Hannah adds, “Kevin is a true advocate for herdy, he believes in the brand but also the philosophy of herdy which is to spread smiles and happiness whilst giving back to its home community. It was important to us that when we looked to the future of herdy that it was surrounded by people who are genuinely behind our brand purpose.”

As chair, Roberts will be helping the company achieve its goals and will be focussing on herdy’s lovability. His past experience includes being president and CEO of Pepsi during the late eighties and early nineties before his meteoric turn around of global advertising agency Saatchi and Saatchi as worldwide CEO between 1997 and 2016. 

Roberts says, “In this world where there is a lot of uncertainty and fear herdy stands out as a brand which makes people smile and brings happiness into peoples’ lives. There are no moody herdys. I’m a herdy fan, all my family are, kids are, adults are. People rave about herdy and I just love the ethos, it’s fun but not frivolous and it’s truly responsible. I’m thrilled to be part of it, to work with Spencer, Diane and the herdy team. It’s about to get very exciting.”

Kevin’s short term plans include nurturing the brand within the Lake District and further strengthening its ties to its birthplace.