Brighthouse poaches Shop Direct COO
By Jon Whiteaker - 10:34AM - Mon 12th December 2011
Dave Poole has been confirmed today as the new Credit & Risk Director of rent-to-own-retail specialist Brighthouse, starting early next year.
Currently the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of home shopping specialist Shop Direct’s financial services arm, Poole has over 20 years’ experience in total in the credit risk management services and has worked for or with many major retailers.
He joins a company that is benefiting rather than suffering through this current economic downturn, with Brighthouse posting a 16.3 per cent rise in revenues for the first six months of its financial year last month.
Consumers are finding the lure of buying home electricals and domestic appliances on a rent-to-buy basis increasingly attractive, as wage rises remain well under inflation, the cost of living increases and traditional forms of credit become harder to negotiate.
Leo McKee, CEO of Brighthouse, commented on the appointment: “Dave joins us at an important time for Brighthouse. His early priorities will be to further develop the credit processes which underpin the Brighthouse commitment to be a responsible lender.
“Without doubt, he will make a substantial contribution in supporting the further profitable growth of our Brighthouse business. I look forward to working with him.”
Poole will begin work in his new position on January 9th 2012, leaving his role at Shop Direct Financial Services where he was responsible for credit risk and all financial services operations including collections, recoveries, debt sale and fraud management.
Before joining Shop Direct he also held credit risk management roles at Marks & Spencer and IKANO Financial Services (originally part of Ikea), where he worked with high street retailers such as New Look, Warehouse, Austin Reed, Principles and Liberty of London.