McColl’s appoints Robbie Bell as CFO

Convenience retailer McColl’s has appointed Robbie Bell to its board as chief financial officer.

Bell is moving on from his current position as CFO of Welcome Break Limited following its takeover by Applegreen plc, will take up his appointment on 17 January 2019.

In 2017, Bell was appointed CFO of Welcome Break, the independent motorway service operators, before taking on the role of CEO in early 2018. During his time at Welcome Break he was in charge of managing the sale and ownership transition process.

Prior to that, and since 2009, he had been the CFO of Screwfix Direct Limited, a subsidiary of Kingfisher plc. During his time there he oversaw “significant business growth”, driven by strong like-for-like sales and an extensive store opening programme.

With over 20 years of retail experience, he has also formerly held a number of senior finance positions at Travelodge and Tesco .

Bell is taking over from McColl’s’ departing CFO Simon Fuller, who will leave the company on 22 February 2019 following a handover period.

Jonathan Miller, chief executive at McColl’s said: “I am delighted to welcome someone of Robbie’s calibre and expertise to the Board. With such a wealth of senior experience in retail and finance, he will add significant strength to the team. I am confident Robbie will make a valuable contribution as we deliver our strategy to enhance our neighbourhood convenience offer.

Bell added: “I am excited to be joining a growing sector with so many opportunities. McColl’s is well placed to benefit from that growth and I’m looking forward to working with Jonathan and the management team to drive future value.”