Alex Gourlay, a former Chief Operating Officer for Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA), has been appointed as Holland & Barrett’s (H&B) new Executive Chair.
He is taking over from Michael Casey, who has held the role since September 2021 and had been a non-executive Board member since 2017. Casey will remain as a non-executive Board member.
Until May 2021, Gourlay was the Executive VP and Co-Chief Operating Officer for WBA, the pharmacy and healthcare giant.
Towards the end of last year, H&B’s owner LetterOne completed a deal to buy back more than £700m of debt to shore up the health & wellness retailer’s finances. The company said at the time that the deal left H&B “debt-free and capitalised to drive our ambitious transformation programme”.
In a statement confirming the appointment of Gourlay, the retailer stated that it had experienced its most successful Christmas trading in the past six years. It said the Gourlay’s priority would be to deliver the group’s current plan to help H&B “realise its potential to grow and support customers to make health and wellness a way of life for everyone at a time when health is so vitally important”.
Last year, H&B publicly distanced itself from LetterOne’s Russian co-founders Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, after the pair were sanctioned by the UK government following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The retailer said yesterday that LetterOne remains “fully committed” to the development and growth of the business.
Casey commented: “H&B is a business with strong growth momentum, having just achieved its best Christmas trading period ever. I have every confidence the team will go from strength to strength under Alex’s proven leadership.”
Gourlay added: “I have always had huge respect for H&B. It is a much-loved UK institution playing a vital role for health and wellness on an international scale. The opportunity to help it through its next stage of transformation is genuinely exciting.
“Michael and the team have done a fantastic job positioning the business for a bright future. I thank them for that and am fully committed to taking their work forward successfully.”
