Board of Directors

Skills and experience
David Hearn is an experienced chair and brings a wealth of international board and senior executive experience in public companies, having previously been CEO of leading consumer goods businesses Goodman Fielder in Australasia, United Biscuits in Europe and Asia, Cordiant plc in the US and the UK and also international private equity and advisory firm Committed Capital. David was chair of The a2 Milk Company, a company listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and dual listed on the Australian Stock Exchange until November 2023. In January 2024, David was appointed Chair of Tate & Lyle PLC.

External appointments
David is chair of Tate & Lyle PLC and a director of Lovat Partners, Committed Capital and the architectural firm Robin Partington & Partners.

Skills and experience
Frederic Vecchioli founded our French business in 1998 and has overseen its growth to 29 stores in Paris operating under the “Une Pièce en Plus” brand. He joined the Group as President and Head of French Operations following the Mentmore acquisition in 2004. Frederic was appointed to the Board in March 2011 and became Chief Executive Officer of the Group in September 2013.

External appointments and other listed directorships
None

Skills and experience
Simon Clinton joined the Group in March 2024 and was appointed as Chief Financial Officer on 22 April 2024. Simon was previously Chief Financial Officer of Logicor, one of Europe’s largest warehouse and logistics real estate companies. He joined Logicor as Director of Group Finance in February 2017, before being promoted to Chief Financial Officer in May 2018. Prior to this, Simon held a number of senior finance roles at Tesco and Diageo. Simon began his career and qualified as a chartered accountant at Hays Allen.

External appointments and other listed directorships
None

Skills and experience
Jane Bentall has extensive experience and understanding of operating multi-site, consumer-led businesses. Jane was managing director of Haven, the UK holiday parks chain and largest business division of Bourne Leisure. Prior to becoming managing director of Haven, she was the group chief financial officer for twelve years and previously spent six years as operations director. In her career she has also held senior financial roles at the Rank Group.

External appointments
Jane is Chair of Resident Hotels Limited, a director of Oakman Inns plc, and a non-executive director of The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust. Jane is also a consultant for Blackstone, and a member of Pilotlight.

Jane is an ACA qualified accountant and a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Skills and experience
Avis Darzins has over 20 years of senior executive level and management consulting experience in the retail and entertainment and media sectors, specialising in customer experience strategy and business transformation.

Avis began her career in the retail sector covering domestic and international B2B and B2C sales and buying and category management before specialising in large-scale change programmes. Before joining Sky PLC in 2009 as business transformation director, Avis spent eight years at Accenture, having been promoted to partner in 2004. Avis was a non-executive director of Moss Bros Group plc, until its sale in 2020.  More recently Avis has established her own business consulting company.

External appointments
Avis is a non-executive director for Marshalls plc and Grafton Group plc, and the senior independent trustee/director for the children’s charity Barnardo’s.

Skills and experience
Laure Duhot brings over 30 years of senior executive level experience in the investment banking and property sectors, specialising in alternative real estate assets, and has been a non-executive director at a number of funds and property companies.

Laure started her career in the investment banking sector and has developed a focus on the property sector. She has held senior roles at Lehman Brothers, Macquarie Capital Partners, Sunrise Senior Living Inc., Pradera Limited and Grainger plc, and latterly was head of investment and capital markets – Europe at Lendlease. Laure was a non-executive of Orpea SA until December 2023 and NB Global Monthly Income Fund Limited until July 2024. In June 2024 Laure was appointed Chair of GI DI Pilgrim Acquisition Limited, holding entity for the ASK4 group.

External appointments
Laure is currently a non-executive director of Primary Health Properties plc. Laure is also a director of Lifestory Group Limited and acts as the independent member on CBRE-IM’s UK investment committee. She is Chair of GI DI Pilgrim Acquisition Limited.

Skills and experience
Delphine Mousseau brings over 25 years of senior executive level and consultancy experience in e-commerce and customer engagement across Europe, specialising in retail.

Delphine began her career as a project manager at the Boston Consulting Group before moving on to join Plantes-et-Jardins.com where she became head of operations. Between 2007 and 2011, she was director of e-commerce for Europe at Tommy Hilfiger and then became an independent consultant, primarily for the former Primondo Specialty Group which was Carlyle owned. Latterly Delphine was a VP markets at Zalando and a non-executive director of Fnac-Darty SA.

External appointments
Based in Germany, Delphine is currently non-executive director at Aramis Group SAS, listed on Euronext Paris, and a member of the Holland & Barrett UK board and chair of the Refurbed board in Austria.

Skills and experience
During his extensive and varied career, Gert van de Weerdhof has held a number of senior executive positions including as CEO of GrandVision Europe BV before progressing to become chief retail officer for Esprit Holdings Ltd and latterly as CEO of RFS Holland Holdings BV and its subsidiary Wehkamp BV. Gert has been a non-executive director, for Wereldhave NV, and Accell Group NV, and chair of CTAC NV. Gert brings a wealth of international expertise to the Board having held roles across multi-site retail, e-commerce, consumer goods and real estate.

External appointments
Gert is currently CEO of Mercy Ships and non-executive director of Sligro Food Group NV, a company listed on Euronext Amsterdam.