// Kingfisher completes group executive team with chief people officer appointment
// Kate Seljeflot will join on March 23 from Costa Coffee
// Group chief supply chain officer Martin Lee and CEO of Kingfisher Romania Adela Smeu also join the group exec team
Kingfisher has appointed Kate Seljeflot to the post of chief people officer, finalising its executive team.
Seljeflot is currently the chief people officer at Costa Coffee, the coffeehouse chain owned by Coca-Cola.
She will join office on March 23 and will be part of the group executive team, based at the head office in London Paddington.
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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, Seljeflot spent 14 years at Diageo, most recently as global talent director, where she led on all aspects of Diageo’s talent strategy, including its approach to diversity and inclusion.
Kingfisher also announced that group chief supply chain officer Martin Lee and chief executive of Kingfisher Romania Adela Smeu will become members of the group executive team.
Lee 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. He has led the supply chain at Screwfix and then B&Q. Lee will keep responsibility in parallel for the B&Q supply chain.
Smeu joined Kingfisher in 2015 as finance director for Brico Dépôt Romania. She was promoted to chief executive of the Romanian division in 2017.
Prior to joining Kingfisher she spent eight years at Obi, the international home improvement retailer in Romania, where she was the finance and administration director.
The changes announced on Monday, combined with the changes made since September, complete Kingfisher’s group executive team.
“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,” Kingfisher chief executive Thierry Garnier said.
“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.”
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