Hobbycraft appoints new CEO

HobbyCraft has appointed former trading and marketing director at Pets at Home Catriona Marshall as its new chief executive. Current chief executive Chris Crombie is stepping down from the business.

The move comes less than a year after the arts and crafts retailer was bought by private equity firm Bridge point in April. Bridgepoint also previously owned Pets at Home, which it sold to KKR in January last year.

At Pets at Home, Marshall was responsible for its brand and in-store proposition development and multichannel presence. She joined Pets in 2003 from Walmart where she was private label director for Walmart Europe, and prior to that was at Kraft and Mars.

Marshall said: “I am excited about the ambitious growth plans of HobbyCraft’s shareholders and very much look forward to working with the team to accelerate its growth and realise its full potential to become a great place for customers and employees.”

HobbyCraft has 51 stores in the UK with plans to quadruple its number of stores in the medium term. It also appointed Simon Burke from Superquinn as chairman in November.

HobbyCraft reported pre-tax profits were up £5m to £10.2m in the year to February 2010, with sales of £84.4m.

Source : Jennifer Creevy - Retail Week