Wilko’s recently appointed Chief Executive Mark Jackson has put together a new senior leadership team to help the troubled household and garden retailer implement a plan to stabilise the business and accelerate its turnaround.
In recent months, Wilko has secured fresh funding and bought in new management following a cash squeeze when it slipped to a loss in its last financial year and struggled to pay suppliers.
Jackson, who took up the role at the end of last year, commented: “We’ve already begun our turnaround programme to drive Wilko forward. As part of this we quickly identified significant changes to the Wilko operating model to enable us to stabilise the business, and then thrive again.”
He revealed that his plan was focused on three priorities: Getting the business in better shape, driving sales both instore and online, and driving down operating costs.
“To enable a step change in business performance, and in order to drive our turnaround plan, we’ve put in place a more streamlined senior leadership team,” said Jackson.
This includes Dave Murphy, Group Finance Director, becoming Wilko’s Chief Finance Officer. He replaces Karen Mackay, who has resigned from the company and will be leaving in March, following a handover period.
Amanda Jones, its current Retail Director, is taking on the new role of Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for stores, logistics, and central operations. Meanwhile, Deborah Rabey is joining the business as Interim Chief Customer Officer to lead the commercial, digital and marketing teams. She is said to have a wealth of experience across supply chains, global sourcing and marketing following 14 years at director level with Tesco.
Philippa McNamara is continuing as MD of Wilko’s product development unit – Kin Limited, while Anne-Marie Haydock has been promoted into the HR Director role to replace Kate Price, who is leaving the business in April. James Dorling continues in his role as Property, Procurement and Transformation Director.
Jackson concluded: “To deliver our strategic priorities, we must remain focused, and our leadership structure needs to be fully aligned to achieve this. Having now reviewed the current structure, we need to remove both the duplication of functions and operating costs. As part of this review, we’ve had to take some necessary and difficult decisions as we create a new operating structure that helps stabilise the business, from which we can then drive the business forward.
“Having now announced the new top leadership functions, we’ve already begun conversations with the senior management team and wider organisation to implement the new structure. This includes some changes to our management structure at both our stores and head office. Right now, we’re unable to confirm the scale of change as conversations are ongoing but it will mean a number of roles will be made redundant to support the wider plan.
“We’re fully supporting affected individuals as a result of these changes. Such change will be unsettling to our team members and the wider business, and we’re acting swiftly to put in place the new organisational structure.”
Last week, it was reported that Wilko was planning to cut more than 400 jobs in its stores and head office as part of its efforts to control costs.
NAM Implications:
- In other words, Wilko are now very receptive to NAMs that can analyse cost of driving sales…
- …and demonstrate their impact on Wilko’s bottom line.
- Over to you!
