Graeme Jenkins, the man set to take over as CFO at Pets at Home, will no longer be joining the group following an accounting probe at his previous employer.
Jenkins had been CFO at Australian department store retailer Target, owned by Wesfarmers, since 2013. In December 2015 Jenkins was announced as Chief Financial Officer, following his predecessor Ian Kellett’s promotion to CEO.
But in riposte to reports that Wesfarmers was launching an investigation into accounting irregularities at Target, Pets at Home postponed Jenkins’ start date (he was due to start with the retailer on 4 April).
On Friday, Target CEO Stuart Machin formally announced his decision to step down from Target as the investigation brought to light $18m worth of deals that were made on the promise that Target would pay more later. Following this Pets at Home announced today that Jenkins would no longer be taking on the CFO role, supposedly a decision that was reached by “mutual agreement” although this seems unlikely.
Mark Adams will serve as interim CFO, overseeing the finance department during the intervening period. Adams has acted as an interim CFO to Cognita Schools since February 2014 and has finance leadership experience from a number of business to consumer and publically listed companies. He has previously held the role of CFO at Hastings Insurance Group, easyJet plc, Helphire Group plc, Alpha Airports Group Plc and STA Travel Group.
Pets at Home will recommence the search process for a permanent CFO.
