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.

External appointments
David is currently chair of The a2 Milk Company and a director of Lovat Partners, Committed Capital and the architectural firm Robin Partington & Partners.

Other listed directorships
The a2 Milk Company is listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange and dual listed on the Australian Stock Exchange.

Skills and experience
Frederic Vecchioli founded our French business in 1998 and has overseen its growth to 28 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
Andy Jones joined the Group in May 2013 as Chief Financial Officer. Andy’s previous role was director of group finance at Worldpay Limited, prior to which he held the positions of director of finance and investor relations at TUI Travel PLC and chief financial officer at Virgin Entertainment Group in the US. Andy began his career at Ernst & Young, where he qualified as a chartered accountant in 1992. Andy is a graduate of the University of Birmingham.

External appointments and other listed directorships
None

Skills and experience
Ian Krieger joined the Board in October 2013 as a Non-Executive Director and was appointed Chair of the Audit Committee in April 2014 and Senior Independent Director in March 2015. Ian is a Chartered Accountant and was a senior partner and vice-chair at Deloitte until his retirement in 2012. Ian brings a wealth of recent financial experience to the Board as well as his experience as audit committee chair for two other UK-listed companies in the property sector.

External appointments
Ian is a non-executive director and audit committee chair of Capital & Regional plc and non-executive director, senior independent director and audit committee chair of Primary Health Properties plc. He is also chair of Anthony Nolan, a blood cancer charity.

Other listed directorships
Capital & Regional plc and Primary Health Properties plc.

Skill and experience
Joanne Kenrick was the marketing director for Homebase until the end of 2015. Prior to that Joanne was chief executive officer of Start, setting up and running HRH the Prince of Wales’ public facing initiative for a more sustainable future. Former roles include marketing and customer proposition director for B&Q and marketing director at Camelot Group plc. Until September 2015 Joanne was a non-executive director of Principality Building Society, where she was also a member of the audit and conduct risk committees. Joanne has extensive experience in developing ESG strategies within the charitable sector, for listed and larger private companies. Joanne has a law degree and started her career at Mars Confectionery and PepsiCo.

External appointments
Joanne is currently a non-executive director and remuneration committee chair for Welsh Water and Coventry Building Society and chair of Switching Services Participant Committee and of PayM for Pay.uk. Joanne is also chair of trustees of the children’s charity Make Some Noise.

Other listed directorships
None

Skills and experience
Previously Claire Balmforth was group HR director of the Priory Group and, at Carpetright plc, she served as group human resources director from 2006 and as operations director UK from 2011. She also served as its people and customer director. She began her career in Selfridges, and has worked in many retail businesses including Tesco and Boots and has experience in the B2B sector with RAC plc. Claire has extensive operational experience and significant knowledge of leadership and human resources, including employee engagement.

External appointments
Claire is a non-executive director and remuneration committee chair for Trifast plc and FRP Advisory Group plc. She is also a member of the British Heart Foundation retail committee and remuneration committee.

 Other listed directorships
Trifast plc and FRP Advisory Group plc.

Skills and experience
Bill Oliver is a chartered accountant with over 35 years’ experience with residential and commercial development companies such as Alfred McAlpine, Barratt Developments and the Rutland Group. He joined St Modwen Properties PLC in 2000 as finance director and was subsequently appointed managing director in 2003 and chief executive in 2004, and he retired from this role in November 2016.

External appointments
Bill is non-executive deputy chair of Churchill Retirement plc, and non-executive chair for Placefirst Limited.

Other listed directorships
None

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. Until recently, he was also a non-executive director, vice-Chair and chair of the remuneration and nomination committees for Wereldhave 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 chair of CTAC NV, non-executive director and Vice-Chair of Accell Group NV and non-executive director of Sligro Food Group NV.

Other listed directorships
CTAC NV, Accell Group NV and Sligro Food Group NV are listed on Euronext Amsterdam.