Pizza oven firm Ooni fires up board with hires

Ooni was founded by husband-and-wife team Kristian Tapaninaho and Darina Garland, and since launching in 2012 now sells its wares in more than 80 countries. Formerly known as Uuni, its products are stocked in retailers such as John Lewis, Lakeland, Williams Sonoma and ACE Hardware.

The firm has named Paul Ross, MD of the super premium brands division at spirits group Edrington that is famous for The Macallan, as chairman.

Additionally, Nigel Eccles, founder and former chief executive of Edinburgh-founded sports betting firm FanDuel and chief executive of the group messaging company Flick, will serve as non-executive director.

Chief experience officer Garland hailed the appointments, which aim to leverage the duo’s extensive experience in building companies.

She commented: “They’re excited by what we’ve achieved with our team thus far and the huge opportunity that lies ahead of us.

“We’re aiming high, as always, and are confident that by remaining focused on the innovation of our products, fuelling the passion of our customer community and continuing to build strong relationships with customers and partners that we can achieve our goal of becoming a household brand synonymous with outdoor pizza ovens.”