Simon Harrison, former CEO of Princes Group.
Photo: Princes Group
UK food and drink manufacturer perhaps best known for its tinned tuna, Princes Group, has announced that its CEO Simon Harrison is to step down at the end of this month to pursue new opportunities.
Announcing the news in a stock exchange notification, Princes noted that Harrison had served the Group for five years, including the last two years as Chief Executive Officer, and stated that a formal succession process has now begun to appoint his replacement.
Princes said that Giuseppe Mastrolia, currently Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Board Director, would be stepping in as Interim CEO from July 1, 2026.
Mastrolia was appointed CCO last autumn, after having joined the group in 2024 as a board director following the £700 million acquisition of Princes from Mitsubishi Corporation by Italian multinational food processing and retail conglomerate NewPrinces (then Newlat Food), where he has served as CEO for the past nine years.
The Italian firm, which was founded by the Mastrolia family in 2004, rebranded as "NewPrinces Group" following the takeover.
At the time of the acquisition, which was announced shortly after he took office in 2024, Harrison described the takeover as "the start of an incredible new chapter in the 140-year history of Princes" and predicted "a very bright future as part of NewPrinces Group.”
The chairman of New Princes Group, Angelo Mastrolia, father of Giuseppe, said in May 2024 that "what started as a small family business has now grown into a dynamic multinational company" and that the deal would mean Newlat/NewPrinces would "become one of Europe’s foremost food & beverage industry leaders with an exceptional portfolio spanning 10 diverse categories."
In 2025, NewPrinces Group took over the supermarket chain Carrefour Italy, and last October confirmed the launch of the listing process for its UK subsidiary Princes Group through an IPO on the London Stock Exchange, which according reporting by The Financial Times valued the business at £1.16bn, falling short of the £1.6bn originally targeted.
