Sad news this morning that former Kingfisher director and longstanding Retail Week columnist Nigel Whittaker has died after a long battle against cancer.

Sad news this morning that former Kingfisher director and longstanding Retail Week columnist Nigel Whittaker has died after a long battle against cancer, at the untimely age of 62.

A lot of people in the industry will miss Nigel hugely - he was very well connected and at the heart of the retail world. I always very much enjoyed his company and he was one of those people who lived and breathed retail, was great for a gossip and had huge energy and enthusiasm for the goings-on in the industry.

He was also a great supporter of Retail Week, sitting on our advisory board from the very start - at which time he was corporate affairs director of Kingfisher - and providing invaluable guidance to my predecessors Patience Wheatcroft and Ian McGarrigle. His counsel to the magazine, for which we were always grateful, continued until very recently, and George, who knew him for a lot longer than I did, will be writing a full obituary for Friday’s magazine.

Our sympathies to his family.