‘Better late than never’ the old saying goes – and in the case of Halfords’ new chief executive, it’s a cliché that certainly rings true.

Jill McDonald

Jill McDonald

Jill McDonald was this morning unveiled as the retailer’s choice to succeed the Tesco-bound Matt Davies in May, and interestingly she was also in the running for the top job at Halfords two and a half years ago, when Davies was eventually appointed.

Halfords chairman Dennis Millard told Retail Week that McDonald was “on the list” to take the top job in 2012, but admitted the role “probably came a little early for her.”

Back then, McDonald had only recently been appointed to her current role of fast food giant McDonald’s chief executive, UK and president North West division, Europe, and decision makers at Halfords concluded that she perhaps lacked the experience to take on the top job at that stage of her fledgling career.

Outstanding success

Having gone on to achieve what Millard hailed as “outstanding success” in overseeing the restaurant’s UK and North West Europe operation, McDonald has now been handed the chance to lead Halfords through a key period in its history and the ‘Get Into Gear’ strategy.

And Millard insists that, despite having no background in retail, Halfords’ first female boss McDonald has “all the credentials” to steer the retailer in the right direction.     

She began her career in brand management at Colgate Palmolive in 1987, before joining British Airways three years later.  

McDonald held a number of marketing and management roles in the UK and Hong Kong during her time with the airline, rising to head of global marketing in 2004.

In 2006, she joined McDonald’s as chief marketing officer for the UK and Northern Europe and was appointed to her current role in 2010.

Her responsibilities at McDonald’s extend across 3,300 owned and franchised restaurants and more than 200,000 colleagues in seven European countries.

McDonald has overseen investment in the fast food giant’s menu as well as customer insight and colleague development – a focus that was of particular interest to Halfords when drawing up the ideal profile of its next boss.

“She doesn’t come steeped in retail, but she does come steeped in dealing with consumers and that’s what it’s all about nowadays.”

Dennis Millard, Halfords

Millard said: “At the time when we set out our brief to look for a successor, we were looking for somebody who was a business leader – and she ticks a box there obviously very well – but also somebody who has nurtured customer service and colleague engagement.

“Those are two areas in which she has achieved outstanding success at McDonald’s, particularly in the UK. It was very important to bring in someone who was consumer-facing.”

‘Inspirational’ choice

Millard added that her lack of background in retail was “not as important as it would be” in other sectors of retail, namely the grocery industry, and claimed her appointment was “inspirational” rather than left-field, as some analysts claimed today.

“If you look at what Halfords is all about, we are driving the service side of our business. We are looking for somebody that can think outside of the box as far as that is concerned. Jill ticks all of those boxes,” Millard said.

“She doesn’t come steeped in retail, but she does come steeped in dealing with consumers and that’s what it’s all about nowadays – understanding their needs and acting accordingly. There were good candidates, but she was the chosen one.

“She is a regretted leaver, as the term is, because she was thought of very highly at McDonald’s. But her next move there would have seen her move further away from where the action is. She likes that and I think that was something that concerned her.

“On the flip side, that excites her with Halfords, because she will be closer to the action. We’ve provided a challenge that she found really interesting and exciting.

“She’s been on our radar for some time. At the time we were looking to hire Matt [Davies], she was on the list. She had only been in her current job for about a year and we felt it was probably a little early for her, but she had definitely been on our radar.”

The ‘next level’

Now McDonald has secured the job, she has the unenviable challenge of succeeding Davies.

He oversaw a 43% improvement in the retailer’s share price and introduced the turnaround programme, ‘Getting into Gear’, which saw Halfords’ store proposition overhauled with cycling clothing and changing rooms added to some of its estate.

During his tenure, Halford’s head offices also received a revamp, while its staff morale was placed high on his agenda. Davies launched a new-look training programme and encouraged workers to celebrate personal news including weddings and births at regular meetings.

When asked if McDonald could emulate that success, Millard said: “I would certainly hope so – and hopefully take it to another level.

“She’s not the same as Matt, but one thing she is very good at is the engagement. She’s very personable and very easy to talk to, in the same way that Matt would put you at ease immediately.

“We were looking for someone who would drive the strategy that we are mid-way through and really buy into, which she did. But beyond that we wanted someone who could take it to another level and we feel she fits the criteria to do that.”