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Shop Direct boosts board with internal promotions

December 15, 2014

Shop Direct, the UK’s leading multi-brand digital retailer, has boosted its executive board with two internal promotions.

Retail finance director Greg Pateras will succeed Mark McMenemy as group finance director following Mark’s decision to retire as a full-time executive.

Mark, who has had a long and distinguished career in retail and finance, has helped transform Shop Direct from a heavily loss-making business to profitability in his three years at the firm.

Greg has been with Shop Direct for eight years and has in-depth expertise in knitting together retail, finance and financial services. He has a firm grip on day-to-day trading and getting cash in the till, as well as on Shop Direct’s longer-term strategy to build a world class digital retailer.

Jon Owen has also been promoted to the executive board as group retail brands director. Jon has been a champion of the group’s brands since joining Shop Direct three years ago and has spearheaded the development of Very.co.uk into the powerful force it is today.

The promotions following the appointment to the executive board of Matt Dixon as group product director at the end of 2013

Jon will continue to lead trading for the business, alongside Matt Dixon. In addition to responsibility for Shop Direct’s retail brands, Jon will also assume responsibility for the creative team.

Meanwhile, group chief operating officer Neil Chandler will take on the role of financial services CEO, succeeding Andy Hart, who has decided to leave Shop Direct for personal reasons.

Neil, who will retain responsibility for IT and legal, has helped build significantly stronger IT and logistics capabilities since he became COO in February last year.

His operational expertise, coupled with his previous FS CEO experience, makes him ideally suited to lead Shop Direct’s financial services business to the next stage of its world class journey.

Gareth Jones, who was recently appointed deputy CEO of Shop Direct, also takes on the role of group chief operating officer. Gareth’s new role gives him responsibility for the customer’s end-to-end experience and sees him take control of fulfilment, operations, process excellence, outsourcing and customer services.

He also retains strategy, customer experience, Very Exclusive, ecommerce and customer intelligence within his remit.

All of the new positions will take effect from Monday 5th January 2015 (financial services positions are subject to FCA approval).

Alex Baldock, group CEO at Shop Direct, said: “We work hard to cultivate talent at Shop Direct. Congratulations to Greg and Jon, two home-grown rising stars, and to Gareth and Neil, both lynchpins of our transformation so far. This team can take us to the next level in our journey towards being a world class digital retailer.

“Meanwhile, many thanks to Mark and Andy, who have played key roles in our recent resurgence. We are determined to build on that to become a true leader in ecommerce.”

ENDS

For more information, please contact Gemma Goldfingle on gemma.goldfingle@shopdirect.com / 07795 811742

ABOUT SHOP DIRECT
Shop Direct is the UK’s fourth largest online retailer, with annual sales of more than £1.7 billion. Our digital department store brands include Very.co.uk, which is now a £700 million brand, and receive an average of 950,000 website visits every day.

We exist to make good things easily accessible to more people. With our department store range, market-leading ecommerce and technology capabilities and unique financial services offer, we’re well placed to deliver on that promise.

We sell over 900 famous brands, including big name labels and our own exclusive brands, and deliver 48 million products to our four million customers every year. Our click and collect service, Collect+, delivers to more than 5,500 stores across the country, increasing ease and convenience for customers.

For more information on Shop Direct, visit www.shopdirect.com or follow us on Twitter at @ShopDirect.