// Joules hires Nick Jones as new CEO
// Jones joins from Asda where he served as commercial director
// Jones has worked at both M&S and Asda for a total of 25 years
Joules has poached the commercial director of Asda, Nick Jones, to take on the role of chief executive.
The news comes after Joules’ announcement last month that its chief executive of eight years, Colin Porter, had filed a notice of his intention to retire from the business before the end of its 2019/20 financial year.
Jones joins Joules after working at Marks & Spencer and Asda for a total of 25 years.
Jones will Joules before the end of 2019 and, following a short handover period, Porter will then step down.
While at Asda, Jones was responsible for the performance of the Big 4 grocer’s trading divisions across food, general merchandise and clothing arm George.
He joined M&S’ graduate scheme in 1995 and was responsible for buying & merchandising, sourcing and investor relations, before serving as the company’s home directorfor 15 years.
“On behalf of the Board and everyone at Joules, I am thrilled to welcome Nick as our next chief executive,” Joules non-executive chairman Ian Filby said.
“Nick’s extensive retail, brand and strategy credentials, as well as a clear alignment with the Joules values, made him the outstanding candidate for the role.”
Jones said: “Whilst the business and brand has achieved fantastic growth over recent years, I share the board’s view that there are tremendous growth opportunities ahead, driven, in particular, by further international expansion and online growth.”
Joules has presence in the UK, the US, Germany and France among others.
The fashion retailer currently operates from 123 stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland across a range of location types, as well as from its online business.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
