Wilko Appoints CEO Designate; Gears Up For Turnaround

Mark Jackson has joined wilko as CEO designate to accelerate the 92-year old retailer’s turnaround plans.  Latterly Mark was CEO of Benson’s for Beds, where he helped lead the busines sale and successfully delivered the turnaround and transformation process, driving the retailer back to profitability. Prior to that he was founding member of the Pep & Co start-up (value clothing chain). Mark will be working closely with the retailer’s senior team to drive wilko forward and deliver the turnaround programme. 

As a result of Mark joining, Jerome Saint-Marc will stand down from his position as CEO with immediate effect.

Against a backdrop of major supply chain disruptions and significant footfall declines, particularly on the high street, wilko recognises that it has not been performing to its full potential and is making strategic changes, including accelerating its omni-channel offer.  The recently announced injection of £48m from the sale and leaseback of the Worksop distribution centre and onging re-gearing negotiation successes with landlords is further demonstration of the retailer’s intentions to turnaround the business.

Family Director Lisa Wilkinson comments; “Our history is steeped in serving customers and communities going back to 1930.  We started out in the great depression and the second world war, our founder JK Wilkinson would expect us to make the right, and sometimes difficult, changes to restore confidence and safeguard the future of the business.  That includes making sure we have the right leadership in place with the right experience and relevant turnaround expertise to deliver the retail experience our customers are demanding of us today.”

“I would like to offer my thanks to Jerome for his tireless work leading wilko through some tough trading conditions for retail, including the pandemic and the widespread impact on almost all aspects of our business. We wish him every success in the future.”

Wilko is the UK’s 23^rd biggest retailer with 400+ stores, employing 16,000 staff and a 20,000 strong product range, helping customers with their everyday household and garden jobs.  

Source : wilko

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