2nd Jun 2005 09:30
Kingfisher PLC02 June 2005 Thursday 2nd June 2005 Kingfisher plc Senior management appointments Kingfisher plc today announces the following internal senior managementappointments: Ian Cheshire, previously Chief Executive, International and Development, hasbeen appointed Chief Executive of B&Q, the UK's leading home improvementretailer and Kingfisher's largest business. Rob Cissell, previously Chief Executive of B&Q, becomes Chief Executive,Commercial and Development. In this role Rob will be responsible for thecontinuing development of Kingfisher's Strategic Supplier Management (SSM)programme and private label development, replacing George Adams who willconcentrate exclusively on developing Kingfisher's UK Trade business. Rob willalso establish a formal exchange programme to accelerate product, service andformat innovation across the Group. Ian Cheshire, Rob Cissell and George Adams will all continue to report to GerryMurphy, Kingfisher's Group Chief Executive, as will the Chief Executives of thebusinesses in Eastern Europe, Italy and Asia. Ian Cheshire, 45, joined the Group seven years ago and has been a director ofKingfisher plc since 2000. Prior to today's announcement Ian was responsible forthe Group's retail businesses outside the UK, Ireland and France. Under hisleadership over the last three years, sales and profits of those businesses havegrown strongly. Previously, he was Kingfisher's Head of e-commerce and prior tothat Director of Strategy. Before joining Kingfisher he was Group CommercialDirector of Sears plc. Rob Cissell, 45, joined Kingfisher 11 years ago and was Managing Director ofComet and Commercial Director of Woolworths before joining B&Q in 2003,initially as Managing Director, Commercial. Prior to joining Kingfisher heworked at Argos and Bhs. George Adams, 48, has been with Kingfisher for 13 years during which time he hasbeen Commercial Director for both B&Q and Woolworths. George has ledKingfisher's Group supply programme since 2002 and was appointed to the dualrole of Chief Executive UK Trade in February 2005, responsible for ScrewfixDirect and the development of a new Kingfisher trade format for the UK market. Commenting on the moves Gerry Murphy, Group Chief Executive, said: "Today's internal appointments are about applying the strength and depth oftalented retail management at Kingfisher to today's challenges andopportunities. Ian, Rob and George has each made a huge contribution toKingfisher's success over the years and I look forward to more progress in theirnew roles. "Ian has led Kingfisher's rapid expansion across eight countries in Europe andAsia. His strategic leadership and diverse operational experience will beextremely relevant to B&Q's continuing evolution as UK market leader. He alsobrings to B&Q fresh perspectives on home improvement retail trends in some ofthe world's most dynamic markets. "George has successfully established Kingfisher's global SSM programme and hecan now focus exclusively on launching Kingfisher's new UK Trade format and onexpanding Screwfix Direct. "Rob brings a wealth of commercial and retail management experience to his newrole as well as real flair for retail innovation. At B&Q he has accelerated theintroduction of new products and development of store formats, not least thestrong progress in mini-Warehouse revamping and development of the new Warehouseformat. In his new role, he will help fulfil Kingfisher's potential as a trulyinternational retailer, leveraging its unique diversity, as well as its scale." Enquiries: Ian Harding, Group Communications Director 020 7644 1029 Nigel Cope, Head of Communications 020 7644 1030 Further copies of this announcement can be downloaded from www.kingfisher.com orby application to: The Company Secretary, Kingfisher plc, 3 Sheldon Square,London, W2 6PX. Company Profile Kingfisher plc is Europe's leading home improvement retailer with over 600stores in Europe and Asia. Its major brands are B&Q, Castorama, Brico Depot andScrewfix Direct. Kingfisher also has a 21% interest in, and a strategic alliancewith, Hornbach, Germany's leading DIY Warehouse retailer, with 117 stores acrossEurope. B&Q is the UK's leading home improvement retailer with 338 stores andover 38,000 employees. For the year ended 29 January 2005 B&Q's sales were £4.1billion and retail profit was £400 million. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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