Former Poundland boss steps into leadership role at Howdens

Former Poundland managing director Austin Cooke has been appointed as managing director for trade at Howdens.

The news comes after Cooke made the decision to step down from his role at Poundland after seven-and-a-half years.

He began his career at Poundland as a retail director before progressing to transformation director, then overseeing IT and Supply Chain. He later stepped into the role of COO and ultimately became managing director.

Prior to Poundland, Cooke worked for KFC for almost nine years and during his tenure took on multiple roles such as regional director, development director, development and marketing director and senior director, global mergers and acquisitions.

He previously also spent time at Phones 4 U and Currys.

Cooke’s appointment comes on the heels of Howdens’ latest full-year results, which reported a 0.5% rise in revenue to £2.3bn and a 0.2% increase in profit before tax to £328.1m.

Howdens currently has over 850 depots across the UK and Europe, and with a turnover now exceeding £2bn, Howdens joined the FTSE100 under Andrew Livingston’s leadership.

In a LinkedIn post, Cooke said: “After a brilliant seven and half years, I recently made the decision to say goodbye to Poundland and Dealz. It’s been a place where I’ve grown and developed hugely, and hopefully been able to do the same for others too. I have so many amazing memories that I’ll take with me and I’ll be forever grateful for both the experiences and the relationships.”

In another post he added: “I am thrilled to be joining the executive team at Howdens as managing director – trade. The fantastic culture at Howdens is something you can see, hear, and feel. Over the past few months, I’ve had the pleasure of meeting many of the team, and I am excited to get started.”