6 Jun 2012

Lepionka leaving Charlie's

6:46 pm on 6 June 2012

Charlie's chief executive is stepping down from the role.

Stefan Lepionka co-founded the juice firm with Marc Ellis and Simon Neal in 1999.

The company was bought by a subsidiary of the Japanese brewer, Asahi Group, for $129 million last year and is now part of the Schweppes group.

Mr Lepionka leaves the role at the end of July, to pursue new ventures, but will remain as a board director.

Mr Lepionka says he intends using the skills he's learnt in business to help new firms get ahead.

"We always had a goal and I think we achieved our goal by crystallising and building a business and now it's time to take the next step for something different".

Charlie's has started searching for a replacement.