Board

Skills and experience:

Thierry spent 20 years in senior roles at Carrefour, the French multi-national retailer. Before joining Kingfisher, he was a member of the Carrefour group executive committee and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Carrefour Asia. From 2003 to 2008, Thierry was the managing director of Supermarkets for Carrefour France. Following his success in this role he became CEO of Carrefour International and a member of the group executive committee in 2008, where he became responsible for operations in Asia, Latin America and various European countries. In 2016, Thierry was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre National de la Légion d’Honneur (France).

External appointments:

Thierry is a non-executive director of Tesco plc and a member of its remuneration Committee.

Appointed:

September 2019

Skills and experience:

Bernard is a seasoned chief financial officer (CFO) having served in that capacity at several international listed companies. Bernard also has significant experience of large-scale transformation programmes, logistics and supply chain management, technology and digital services. He was CFO at Travelport Worldwide, a global NYSE-listed company providing a technology platform for the travel industry, until it was taken private in June 2019. Prior to that, Bernard was CFO of Aer Lingus and held various senior positions at TNT and TNT Express. Previously, he worked at McKinsey & Company where he rose to become a partner and leader of its worldwide Post and Logistics group.

External appointments:

Bernard is a non-executive director of A.P. Møller–Mærsk A/S. and a member of its audit committee.

Appointed:

October 2019

Skills and experience:

Catherine provides substantial expertise to the Board in the field of finance, risk management and corporate governance, having previously been a non-executive director of the Financial Conduct Authority, the UK financial regulator, where she chaired its audit committee. Catherine also served as an independent member of the supervisory board of PEUGEOT S.A. where she chaired its finance and audit committee. Prior to embarking on her non-executive career, Catherine had a 30-year career in investment banking based in the US, the UK and Asia. She has French and British citizenship and was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in June 2019.

External appointments:

Catherine is a non-executive director and chair of the nomination and corporate governance committee at Johnson Electric Holdings Limited, a Hong Kong listed company. She is also non-executive director of easyJet plc where she chairs its finance committee, and abrdn plc where she is chair of the audit committee and a member of the nomination and governance committee.

Appointed:

November 2020

Skills and experience:

Claudia brings a wealth of experience of business transformation and building digital capabilities to the Board having previously held non-executive roles, including interim chair of the Premier League, senior independent director of Telecity Group plc, chair of the remuneration committee at Halfords plc, non-executive director at Ocado Group plc, and governance committee chair at Aviva plc. Claudia began her career at McKinsey & Company, before holding roles at Pearson, the Financial Times, Goldman Sachs, and HM Treasury. She was also group managing director, digital at EMAP.

External appointments:

Claudia is currently chair of Deliveroo plc, and non-executive director and remuneration committee chair at Derwent London. She also serves as a member of the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers and is the lead non-executive board member for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Appointed: 

November 2018

 Skills and experience:

Jeff became chief financial officer (CFO) of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc in April 2020. Reckitt Benckiser has operations in over 60 countries and a large number of globally trusted household brands and products. Jeff previously held an executive finance role with Reckitt Benckiser earlier in his career. Most recently, Jeff was CFO of Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize N.V. (Ahold Delhaize), one of the world’s largest retail groups. Jeff was also previously group finance director at both FirstGroup plc and easyJet plc, and held a senior finance role at Associated British Foods plc, as well as a non-executive director role at McBride plc.

External appointments:

Jeff is currently CFO of Reckitt Benckiser Group plc, the British multinational consumer goods company.

Appointed:

June 2018

Skills and experience:

Sophie brings to the Board expertise in strategy, brand and international retail markets as well as substantial experience in business transformation and digital capabilities, having held a number of senior leadership positions at L’Oréal, including managing director of L’Oréal UK & Ireland, and executive chair and global chief executive officer of The Body Shop and was non-executive director at Accor.

External appointments:

Sophie is a senior advisor at the Boston Consulting Group. She is also a non-executive director of Givaudan S.A., the D’Ieteren group, and is the lead independent director on the board of Cimpress, a NASDAQ-listed technology company.

Appointment:

December 2018

Skills and experience:

Rakhi is an experienced non-executive director, with expertise in digital retailing, strategy, analytics, and operational execution. She spent 12 years at Amazon in various senior leadership positions running many of Amazon’s key categories, including high growth, mature and digital categories, in addition to being responsible for pricing across the UK. Prior to joining Amazon, Rakhi held roles at TomTom and in management consultancy in the United States. She was previously a non-executive director of Intu Properties plc.

External appointments:

Rakhi is a non-executive director of Schroders plc, Rightmove plc and Tim Holdco Limited. She is also a non-executive director of Trainline plc where she chairs the remuneration committee and is a member of the nomination and audit and risk committees.

Appointed:

February 2016

Skills and experience:

Bill brings substantial industry experience to the Board, having spent 26 years at The Home Depot, Inc., the largest home improvement company in the world, where he had an outstanding track record of delivery supporting their remarkable growth during this period. Bill was most recently executive vice president, outside sales and services at Home Depot and retired in 2021. During his time there, he held many senior leadership roles including president, Canada and senior vice president, international merchandising, private brands, and global sourcing. Bill has a deep knowledge of merchandising and global sourcing, and experience in developing successful trade and services strategies. Before his time at Home Depot, Bill was merchandising manager for Lowe’s Companies Inc. and millwork plant manager for Menards Inc.

External appointments:

None.

Appointed:

May 2022