Peter Hartley has just been appointed as the new chairman of Nisa Retail Limited, replacing Christopher Baker who earlier this month announced he would not be seeking re-election at the company‘s AGM today.

With his official title being independent non-executive chairman, Hartley first joined the Nisa board in December 2012 as an independent non-executive director and was appointed interim chairman in August 2016.

He is a chartered accountant with banking qualifications and has extensive retail sector experience at both strategic and operations levels having held a number of chief executive and finance director roles.

Nisa also elected two new member directors to the board at its AGM today – Matthew Hunt and Sukhwinder Tiwana. 

RELATED: Nisa Retail Ltd chairman Christopher Baker resigns

At the meeting, chief executive Nick Read provided a trading update for the half year to October 2, 2016, in which Nisa built on last year‘s turnaround results and reported improved sales of £666 million excluding rebates – an increase of 1.1 per cent compared to the same first-half period in 2015.

Meanwhile, adjusted earnings were £4.2 million in the first half, an improvement on the £3.3 million reported in the same period last year.

Finally, Nisa returned to profitable growth, delivering pre-tax profits of £1 million for the first half. 

“Last year was a stabilisation period for Nisa and we are delighted that our momentum has continued into the new year, with the return to profitable growth a clear highlight in the first half of this year,” Read said.

“We are confident that we can maintain this momentum and further strengthen Nisa‘s position as the partner of choice for independent retailers. 

“I am pleased to welcome Peter Hartley as our new chairman, and the whole board looks forward to working with all our members as we continue to progress Nisa for the benefit of the whole Nisa community.”

Nisa is a mutual organisation of independent retailers, operating over 2800 convenience stores and small supermarkets in the UK.

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