People Moves
People Moves tracks leadership changes, senior appointments, and executive reshuffles across the UK retail industry. This section reports on new hires, promotions, and departures within major retail groups, suppliers, and service providers. Retail Sector’s People Moves coverage offers insight into how talent strategy and leadership dynamics influence company direction, governance, and performance — providing retail professionals with an up-to-date view of the industry’s key decision-makers.
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Mar- 2025 -5 March
Virgin Wines CFO retires after 22 years
Virgin Wines has announced that Graeme Weir is retiring from his role as chief financial officer and company secretary after 22 years. During his time at the company, Weird played a “huge” role in the growth of the business alongside CEO Jay Wright, including leading a private equity-backed buyout in…
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3 March
Angling Direct adds former French Connection COO to its board
Angling Direct has announced the appointment of Neil Williams, the former chief operating officer of French Connection Group, as an independent non-executive director effective immediately. A chartered accountant who qualified at KPMG, Williams joins with extensive retail, consumer and public markets experience. He held his board role at French Connection…
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Feb- 2025 -28 February
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,…
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27 February
Asos appoints new MDs amid organisational changes
Asos has appointed two new managing directors as part of a series of organisational changes to further align its structure with its strategy and customer-focused approach to driving growth. North America SVP Sean Trend has been appointed to the role of managing director UK and US, while Jag Weatherley, who…
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26 February
Gymshark names Kim Dolder as new chief commercial officer
Gymshark, the fitness and gymwear brand, has appointed Kim Dolder as its new chief commercial officer (CCO). Dolder, who was previously general manager of North America for Gymshark, will report directly to founder and CEO Ben Francis. She will continue to operate out of New York and lead Gymshark’s US…
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25 February
Co-op unveils new board appointments
The Co-operative Group (Co-op) has appointed Wais Shaifta and Lord Simon Woolley as Independent non-executive directors (NED). Wais is an expert in digital growth and transformation and Co-op said his experience in leading technology businesses brings “depth of understanding of the role technology plays in delivering more value to member-owners”.…
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24 February
Eldon Square appoints new centre director
Eldon Square, the shopping and leisure destination in Newcastle, has appointed Helen Cowie as centre director. As the investment programme in Eldon Square continues with several arrivals set to open this year including Next, River Island, Flight Club and Freight Island, it said Cowie will bring over 30 years of…
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24 February
B&M CEO to retire as group lowers FY guidance
B&M has revealed that chief executive Alex Russo will retire on 30 April, as the group announced it has lowered its profit guidance for FY25 once again to a range of £605m to £625m. The group said the lowered guidance reflects the “current trading performance of the business, an uncertain…
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19 February
UK retail CEO appointments fall sharply as female leadership halves
UK retail CEO appointments dropped by 20% in 2024 to just 22, continuing a decade-long decline in leadership appointments within the sector, according to a new report by Korn Ferry. The country also saw a halving of the number of female CEOs, with only six being appointed in retail in…
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18 February
Tesco appoints new wine product development manager
Tesco has announced that Beth Kelly, a Master of Wine (MW), has joined the supermarket’s wine team as wine product development manager. Previously a buying manager at Majestic Wine, Kelly will be responsible for France and South Africa across both still and sparkling wines. With over 20 years of experience in…
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