// Wilko has shuffled its senior leadership team as it looks to accelerate its turnaround
// As part of the changes, Wilko group finance director Dave Murphy has become chief finance officer, succeeding Karen Mackay
Wilko has revamped its senior leadership team as part of plans to stabilise the business and accelerate its turnaround.
The family-owned business said it will be making changes to its management structure at both its stores and head office, but was unable to confirm the scale of change at present.
As part of the changes, Wilko group finance director Dave Murphy has become chief finance officer, succeeding Karen Mackay who has resigned and will be leaving next month.
Retail director Amanda Jones will take on the new role of chief operating officer with responsibility for stores, logistics, and central operations.
Meanwhile, Anne-Marie Haydock has been promoted to the role of HR director and will replace Kate Price who is leaving the business in April.
The news comes just days after the retailer revealed it would be axing over 400 jobs in a bid to reduce costs.
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The new appointments have been made by new Wilko chief executive Mark Jackson, who joined the business last year, following a review of its strategic plan, which includes driving more sales and pushing down operating costs.
Jackson said: “To deliver our strategic priorities we must remain focused, and our leadership structure needs to be fully aligned to achieve this. Having now reviewed the current structure, we need to remove both the duplication of functions and operating costs. As part of this review, we’ve had to take some necessary and difficult decisions as we create a new operating structure that helps stabilise the business, from which we can then drive the business forward.”
In a new appointment, Deborah Rabey will join Wilko as interim chief customer officer to lead the commercial, digital and marketing teams.
Until late last year, she was category director for general merchandise at Tesco where she worked in director level positions for 14 years.
However, Philippa McNamara will continue as managing director of Wilko’s Kin product development unit and James Dorling will continue in his role as property, procurement and transformation director.
Jackson added: “Having now announced the new top leadership functions, we’ve already begun conversations with the senior management team and wider organisation to implement the new structure. This includes some changes to our management structure at both our stores and head office. Right now, we’re unable to confirm the scale of change as conversations are ongoing but it will mean a number of roles will be made redundant to support the wider plan.
“We’re fully supporting affected individuals as a result of these changes. Such change will be unsettling to our team members and the wider business, and we’re acting swiftly to put in place the new organisational structure.”
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