Hugh Pile

Biography

Hugh Pile is the Chief Executive Officer of Blue Skies, an international freshproduce business founded by his father in 1998.

Blue Skies is a leading manufacturer of fresh-cut fruit, freshly squeezed juice, fruit desserts and dairy-free ice-cream, with eleven operations in seven countries, including Ghana, Egypt, South Africa, Benin, Ivory Coast, the UK and Senegal. Blue Skies supplies leading retailers around the world, including M&S, Tesco, Waitrose and Sainsbury’s in the UK, Albert Heijn in the Netherlands and Carrefour in France (amongst many others).

The company is built on the principle of value-adding at source. This means that Blue Skies aims to make the finished product in the countries where the fruit grows, rather than exporting only the raw material and processing it elsewhere. This approach also enables the business to deliver a better-quality fruit that is delivered ‘fresh from harvest’, from farm to store within as little as 36 hours.

Before returning to the family business, Hugh built an 18year international career in FMCG, holding senior leadership roles at Diageo and L’Oréal. During this period, he shaped brands, built teams across continents, and developed a corporate skill set that later proved foundational to transforming Blue Skies. He describes this as “forging my own path,” rising through the ranks, including a pivotal marketing leadership role in Vietnam with Diageo, followed by becoming Chief Marketing Officer, Western Europe at L’Oréal in London.

In 2017, Hugh made the decisive choice to leave his corporate career to join Blue Skies. Since becoming CEO in 2020, the turnover of the business has grown to £250m, enjoying significant double-digit growth in recent years. Globally, Blue Skies now employs around 9000 people.