Peter Prichard leaves Wilkinson for Pets at Home

Former Wilkinson Head of Buying Peter Pritchard has been named Pets at Home’s new Trading Director.

He will start the job in January 2011, bringing with him over 20 years’ worth of retail experience, which he gained at Asda, Iceland, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer, as well as Wilkinson.

Pritchard arrives at Pets at Home following the departure of previous Trading Director and member of the company board, Catriona Marshall, who left to pursue other opportunities.

Matt Davies, CEO of Pets at Home, commented: “After seven years of dedication and hard work at Pets at Home, Catriona has made a personal decision to seek new challenges. She has been a fantastic colleague and we will all miss her.

“Meanwhile we’re delighted that Peter has agreed to join us. I’m really looking forward to working with him as Pets At Home enters its next phase of growth.” Pets at Home is a growing business, reporting a like-for-like sales hike of 8.8 per cent in the 12 months to March 25th.

Profit before tax increased by 36 per cent and 24 new stores opening during the period, bringing the total number of shops to 256.

Source : Ben Sillitoe