Kingfisher Appoints Chief People Officer; Finalises Executive Team

Kingfisher, the international home improvement company, today announces the appointment of Kate Seljeflot as Chief People Officer. Kate joins from Costa Coffee, the coffeehouse chain owned by Coca-Cola, where she is Chief People Officer.

Kate is an experienced professional with substantial retail and transformation skills, built on an international career in human resources with Costa Coffee, Diageo and Shell. She joined Costa Coffee in September 2016 where she led the global people strategy, with a focus on building the right organisation and capabilities to drive change and support the business’ growth plans.

Before joining Costa, Kate spent 14 years at Diageo, most recently as Global Talent Director. In that role she led on all aspects of Diageo’s talent strategy, including its approach to diversity and inclusion.

Kate is a British national and she will be based at the head office in Paddington. She joins Kingfisher on 23 March and will be part of the Group Executive team. She has lived in France and is a strong French speaker.

Kingfisher also announces that Martin Lee and Adela Smeu will become members of the Group Executive team.

Martin Lee is appointed as Group Chief Supply Chain Officer, a role that he has been successfully covering in an interim capacity since last summer. Martin has spent a total of 25 years at Kingfisher and was previously at other home improvement companies in international supply chain, merchandising, IT and sourcing roles. Upon his return to Kingfisher in 2015, he led the supply chain at Screwfix and then B&Q. Martin will keep responsibility in parallel for the B&Q supply chain.

Adela Smeu, in her current role as CEO of Romania, also joins the Group Executive. Adela joined Kingfisher in 2015 as Finance Director for Brico Dépôt Romania. She was appointed to CEO of Romania in 2017. Prior to joining Kingfisher Adela spent eight years at Obi, the international home improvement retailer, in Romania, where she was Director of Finance and Administration. She previously spent four years in finance roles at United Technologies in France and six years at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Romania.

The changes announced today, combined with others made since September, complete Kingfisher’s Group Executive team, which is listed in full at the end of this release.

Thierry Garnier, CEO of Kingfisher, said: “I’m very pleased to welcome Kate to Kingfisher. She brings excellent international HR experience along with her energy and passion, most recently leading the HR function of a highly successful international retail group.

“I’m also very happy to have Martin and Adela join the Group Executive team, recognising the experience and leadership they have brought in their important roles.

“Building the right Group Executive team was one of my first priorities when I started in September. I am confident we now have a diverse team with a good mix of Kingfisher experience and other home improvement, retail and service industries, which will find the right balance between the Group and local markets. We have much to do and I’m pleased that we now have a strong team in place.” 

Kingfisher’s Group Executive team

Kate Seljeflot key biographical details:

2016-2019     Costa Coffee, Chief People Officer
2014-2016     Diageo plc, Global Talent Director
2011-2014     Diageo plc, HR Director Africa, Turkey, Russia & Eastern Europe
2009-2011     Diageo plc, European HR & then Global HR Shared Services Director
2006-2009     Diageo GB, HR Director
2002-2006     Diageo plc, HR roles in Global Finance rising to HR Director
1994-2002     Shell, various HR roles rising to HR Business Partner.

Source : Kingfisher

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