The Direct Selling Association appoints four new board members

The Direct Selling Association, the UK trade body for direct-to-consumer retail, has appointed four retail industry leaders to its board of directors.

The new board members join representatives from brands including Avon, The Body Shop, and Usborne Books at Home, to serve as an advisory panel for the Direct Selling Association’s work to encourage industry “best practice” and promote more widespread adoption of industry codes of conduct.

The new Direct Selling Association board members are:

Ros Simmons, managing director (UK & EU), MONAT has over 30 years’ experience in the beauty industry, including as global brand manager at The Body Shop and founding director of The Virgin Cosmetics Company.

Holly Baker is country manager for the UK, Ireland, Spain and the Netherlands at Scentsy, a Forbes-recognised, direct-selling fragrance brand headquartered in the US. Since joining Scentsy in 2017, Baker has overseen “significant” growth of the UK market, and the successful launch of the brand into the Netherlands in 2019.

Alessandro Martinez, managing director, Vorwerk UK and Ireland has over 27 years’ international experience in the B2B, B2C, Direct Selling and FMCG sectors, with a track record of delivering ‘sustained, profitable growth” and “successful change management.”

Finally, Scott Yates, managing director, Essens UK and Ireland who joined the brand in 2018. Essens has a turnover of £50.4m, operating in 25 countries across Europe with approximately 210,000 independent direct selling consultants.

Collectively, the association said the appointments bring over seven decades of national and international experience in retail and business. They come as direct selling enjoys a renaissance in the UK, with many of the DSA’s 53 member companies reporting “significant expansion” through the pandemic.

Susannah Schofield OBE, director general of the Direct Selling Association, said: “I am delighted to welcome our four new board members, who bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and wisdom to the Association, from diverse areas of business and retail.

“I look forward to working with them as they play their part in steering the future of this sector of retail in the UK.”

She added: “With many of our member companies currently reporting that they are seeing increased numbers of people joining their independent sales forces in order to maintain the benefits of flexible and remote working that were enjoyed during the pandemic, we expect to see the direct selling channel enjoy continued growth over the coming years.”