Media
Shop Direct appoints new CEO
March 7, 2018
Shop Direct, the UK’s second largest pureplay retailer, which operates digital department stores Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com and VeryExclusive.co.uk, has appointed Henry Birch to the role of group chief executive. He will join Shop Direct later this year.
Henry is currently chief executive officer of FTSE 250-listed Rank Group plc, which owns and operates Grosvenor Casinos and Mecca Bingo alongside several European gaming and casino businesses.
Henry has been chief executive of Rank Group since 2014, leading the business through a wide-reaching strategic overhaul to create the UK’s largest multichannel gaming operator. Rank Group now has a fast-growing digital core with revenues up 15% and profits up 60% in the last year alone.
Prior to joining Rank, Henry spent four years as CEO of William Hill Online, where he launched the company��s mobile business, driving 170% growth in revenue and more than doubling operating profit.
He previously held management roles at Leisure & Gaming plc, BettingCorp, Time Warner, Turner Broadcasting and Riffage, an early digital music operator based in Silicon Valley. He started his career working in the House of Commons and holds an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
At Shop Direct, Henry will take the reins from interim CEO and group finance director, Derek Harding.
Henry Birch said:
“I’m thrilled to be joining as unique and ambitious a business as Shop Direct. The company has been through an extraordinarily rapid and successful transformation over the last five years and flatly refuses to slow down. I’m looking forward to driving continued growth as Shop Direct continues to outpace its competition, and am excited to join the team to carve out the next chapter.”
Aidan Barclay, Chairman of Shop Direct, said:
“Henry is an experienced CEO and an exceptional leader. From both Rank Group and William Hill Online, he brings a track record of reshaping businesses to become more customer-focused, data-driven and technology-enabled while simultaneously driving outstanding financial performance. We’re delighted to attract somebody of Henry’s calibre and very much look forward to working with him as we continue the digital transformation of Shop Direct.
“Separately, I’d like to thank Derek Harding for the superb job he’s done of leading Shop Direct over the last few months. Derek will continue to drive the business forward as interim CEO until Henry arrives, and we look forward to continuing to work with him as group finance director thereafter.”
ENDS
CONTACT INFORMATION
Media enquiries
Shop Direct Lauren Young 07919 228622
Brunswick Eilis Murphy 0207 404 5959
Bondholder enquiries
Shop Direct Will MacLaren will.maclaren@shopdirect.com
ABOUT SHOP DIRECT
Shop Direct is the UK’s second largest pureplay digital retailer, with annual sales of £1.93 billion. Our digital department store brands are Very.co.uk, Littlewoods.com, VeryExclusive.co.uk and LittlewoodsIreland.ie. We receive an average of more than 1.3 million website visits every day, with 69% of online sales completed on mobile devices.
We exist to make good things easily accessible to more people. With our department store range of famous brands, market-leading technology and data capabilities and unique financial services products offering flexible ways to pay, we’re well placed to deliver on that promise.
We sell more than 1,800 famous brands, including big name labels and our own exclusive brands. We have four million customers and deliver 49 million products every year. Our free click and collect service, CollectPlus, delivers to 7,000 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.