Kingfisher, the owner of the B&Q and Screwfix chains, has hired Bernard Bot as its new Chief Financial Officer.
He will join the struggling DIY group on 21 October having worked in the same role at Travelport Worldwide, a global technology platform for the travel industry. During his time there, he was responsible for finance, strategy, transformation and investor relations and helped to reposition the company from a traditional travel content distributor to a digital-led commerce platform.
Prior to that, Bot was CFO of Aer Lingus. Previous roles also include stints at TNT Express and McKinsey & Company.
Thierry Garnier, the former Carrefour executive who recently took over as Kingfisher’s CEO, said: “Bernard is a highly experienced CFO whose credentials and track record are ideally suited to Kingfisher.
“He played a central role in the successful transformations at both TNT and Travelport, where he also gained a deep knowledge of technology and digital services, and he has a career-long understanding of logistics and supply chain optimisation.
“His career at international businesses has also given him strong capital markets expertise as the group CFO of companies listed in the US, UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. We look forward to him getting started later this month.”
Kingfisher also announced today that John Wartig, who joined the company as interim CFO in April, has been appointed to the newly created role of Chief Transformation and Development Officer. He will have direct responsibility for transformation, IT, business development and property, and will report to Garnier.
