Halfords chief operating officer Rob Keates has left the business after four years.

Keates joined the retailer in 2020 as its chief transformation officer before being promoted to COO in 2022.

He was responsible for the creation of Halfords’ contact centre and played a key part in the retailer’s garage services transformation programme.

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According to Retail Week, Keates has now left the business and it is unclear whether he will be replaced or the role will be part of a wider reshuffle.

Halfords slashed more than £10m off its full-year profit guidance in February as its cycling and retail motoring business took a hit from “continued weak customer confidence and unusually mild and very wet weather, which affected footfall into stores and sales of categories such as winter and car cleaning products”.

It now expects to deliver profit of between £35m and £40m for the year to 29 March.

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