// Bernard Bot appointed CFO of Kingfisher
// He will begin on October 21 with a basic salary of £565,000
// Interim CFO John Wartig will be appointed to the newly-created role of chief transformation & development officer
Kingfisher has announced the appointment of Bernard Bot as its new chief financial officer.
Bot will take up the role on October 21 and will also be appointed to the B&Q and Screwfix parent company’s board of directors and group executive team.
A seasoned finance executive, Bot has held this role at companies listed in the US, UK, Ireland and The Netherlands and has worked at international businesses throughout his career.
He was most recently at Travelport Worldwide, a global technology platform where he was chief financial officer and played an integral role in the repositioning of the company from a traditional travel content distributor to a digital-led commerce platform.
READ MORE:
- Kingfisher’s records “disappointing” half-year results
- Kingfisher CEO’s bonus pay triggers investor revolt
- Kingfisher poaches Carrefour China boss as new CEO
Prior to that, Bot was chief financial officer of Irish airline Aer Lingus.
Between 2005 and 2014, he held various positions at express delivery company TNT Express NV, including group chief financial officer and interim group chief executive.
Kingfisher’s new chief executive Thierry Garnier said: “Bernard is a highly experienced CFO whose credentials and track record are ideally suited to Kingfisher.
“He played a central role in the successful transformations at both TNT and Travelport, where he also gained a deep knowledge of technology and digital services, and he has a career-long understanding of logistics and supply chain optimisation.
“His career at international businesses has also given him strong capital markets expertise as the group CFO of companies listed in the US, UK, Ireland and The Netherlands.”
Bot will receive a basic salary of £565,000 and a pension allowance of 12.5 per cent of salary in line with arrangements available to other UK Kingfisher colleagues.
He will also be eligible to participate in the company’s annual bonus with a maximum opportunity of 80 per cent of salary, pro-rata to reflect his start date.
In addition, he will receive share award and incentive award in 2019 and will be dependent on his performance
Kingfosher said that as Bot steps into his role later this month, interim chief financial officer John Wartig will be appointed to the newly created role of chief transformation and development officer.
Wartig will remain on the group executive team, with direct responsibility for transformation, IT, business development and property, and will report to Garnier.
Wartig was appointed interim chief financial officer in April and has since steered Kingfisher’s transformation office.
Garnier said: “I am also delighted that John will be staying at Kingfisher as our chief transformation and development officer.
“In the short time he has been here, he has made a notable impact both in finance and in our ongoing transformation, our IT capabilities and our property portfolio.
“The knowledge he has built up already, as well as his expertise in these strategically key areas, will be extremely valuable for the business going forward.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
