// Furniture Village has made several internal promotions, including naming Charlie Harrison as its new managing director
// Its the first major move since the retailer returned to being fully family owned in December
Furniture Village has named the founder’s son Charlie Harrison as its new managing director and unveiled a raft of internal promotions, just weeks after the business returned to being fully family owned
BGF – formerly the Business Growth Fund – exited Furniture Village in December after first investing in the firm in 2014. The retailer used its cash reserves to buy out BGF in a move that leaves founder Peter Harrison and son Charlie as its sole shareholders.
Peter Harrison has now taken on the executive chairman role with Charlie becoming managing director after 20 years spent at the retailer, the last three as commercial director.
The changes are part of a wider board shake up, which sees many of the retailer’s top team promoted.
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Nick Hipkiss, who was previously the HR director, succeeds Charlie as commercial director while finance director Eamon Wynne has been promoted to chief financial officer.
Head of customer fulfilment David Ayers has been named operations director, and head of business improvement Stephen Sing is now director of customer experience.
Multichannel director Claudia Cooper also takes a seat on the board alongside Mike Broughton, who remains chief information officer.
Peter Harrison said: “Internal promotions may be typical in family businesses, but less common in those with around 1,200 employees, 55 stores, 17 fulfilment centres and an annual turnover of circa £400 million.
“Our senior team has consistently delivered year-on-year commercial growth whilst successfully delivering against our ambitious strategic plans.
“It is their combination of knowledge, experience and commitment that continues to ensure Furniture Village remains at the forefront of the UK furniture retail landscape and ready for its next phase of growth,” he said.
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