After 38 years at Unilever, Alan Jope will be retiring at the end of June. His career has taken him from marketing trainee in 1985 to the company’s top job, which he has held for almost five years. It’s also given him the opportunity to live and work in many parts of the world – including China, Thailand and the US.
In this interview, he looks back on his time with Unilever, reflecting on some of the stand-out successes and main challenges, and why he believes the company is well positioned for its next phase of growth.