Matalan strengthens senior leadership team to boost turnaround

The fashion retailer has appointed Jo Bennett as director of buying and design, and Jon Williams to the newly created role of director of trading.

Both Bennett and Williams bring over 20 years of experience each from brands including John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Primark and Arcadia.

Matalan has also appointed Eilidh MacAskill as its new marketing director, who joined the business in the summer and has previously worked at Ocado Retail, Asda and Monsoon Accessorize.

Andreas Nicolaides joined the retailer this month as director of digital to drive its omnichannel strategy. He has held similar roles at John Lewis, N Brown and several digital media agencies across the UK.

Matalan said the appointments complement the existing strengths across sourcing, quality, customer insight and data, “with the expertise and experience needed to deliver a step-change and win market share, particularly within womenswear”.

Matalan executive chair Karl-Heinz Holland said: “We are making strong progress on our transformation plan. Combining product, brand and commercial capabilities has enabled us to put customers at the heart of everything we do and deliver on our promise to provide excellent quality, value and style.

“With fresh investment, a modernised store estate, invigorated product and the right talent across the business, we have both the strategy and means to grow our market share, attract new customers and deliver sustainable, profitable growth. I am proud of everything we’ve achieved so far on this journey”.

Chief product, brand and commercial officer Sarah Welsh added: “Bringing together product, brand and commercial under one structure gives us the focus we need to relentlessly deliver the everyday style, quality and value our customer deserves. I am delighted to welcome the new team and look forward to inspiring our customer, innovating within our product and marketing and building our share in the market.”