Fiona Kendrick

Dame Fiona Marie Kendrick, DBE (born 5 May 1955) is the chairman and chief executive of Nestlé UK & Ireland, the manufacturers of Kit Kat. Nestlé UK & Ireland has a turnover of around £2.7bn, with 8,000 employees over 23 sites.

She was brought up in Hereford. Her father was Irish and her mother English. She has an older sister, who is a retired headmistress in Sheffield.

She studied biology and chemistry at university. She began her career for two years as a biology and chemistry teacher.

She joined Nestlé UK in January 1980 as a commercial graduate in the frozen food section. She became the first female chief executive of Nestlé UK in October 2012, being announced on 11 August 2012. Nestlé UK has its headquarters at City Place Gatwick, off the A23 at the south-east of Gatwick Airport. She is a UK Commissioner for Employment and Skills.

In January 2015 she was awarded a damehood in the 2015 New Year Honours. She lives in Tadworth in east Surrey. She is involved with the charity Speakers for Schools. In 2015, she received an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University.

She is married to a graphic designer who used to run his own business, and they have two sons.