Pets at Home is to appoint two new female directors as it seeks to hit boardroom diversity targets and strengthen its board ahead of an expected flotation.

The retailer is to hire former Carphone Warehouse executive Amy Stirling and Tessa Green, a trustee of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s charitable foundation, as non-executive directors, Sky News reported.

Stirling and Green’s appointments come as listed companies target 25% female representation on their boards by next year. Their appointments would exceed that goal on Pets at Home’s six-person board.

Halfords chairman Dennis Millard, who hired former Pets at Home boss Matt Davies as the car parts and bike retailer’s chief executive, will also join Pets at Home’s board.

Pets at Home is expected to confirm plans to float in the coming weeks. There has been widespread speculation that it may achieve a valuation of about £1.5bn. A float would follow in the trail of retailers including McColl’s and AO.com, which have been first out of the IPO starting blocks.

Pets at Home owner KKR has appointed its in-house capital markets division along with Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Nomura to oversee the listing.

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