By Laura McGuire
A retail veteran, who was instrumental in driving UK growth for budget outlet Poundland, has been reshuffled by Pepco to head up its struggling European division.
The move comes as the arm posted its second profit warning in three weeks.
Barry Williams, who served as managing director of Poundland and Dealz, in the UK and Ireland for six years, has been shifted into the same role in Pepco to help the division amid a season of losses.
Williams, who has also held senior roles at Big Four grocer Asda, is said to have spearheaded Poundland’s UK transformation in recent years, including widening its range to include more clothing and homewares.
He will be replaced by Austin Cooke, who is currently chief operating officer of Poundland. Anand Patel, the former managing director of the Pepco business, has now stepped down from the firm.
Pepco Group owns Poundland but it has a separate division in its namesake which operates around Europe, spanning over 2,000 stores.
In the last three weeks the group has slashed its profit outlook for Pepco twice, blaming weaker sales along with continued inflationary pressure on costs, and the drag from investment in new stores for the dip.
Its stark contrast to the performance of its star pupil Poundland, which posted its best like-for-like sales since 2018 surging nine per cent in the third quarter, as its valued goods have boded well with customers amid the cost of living crisis.
Pepco also recently bought 71 Wilko stores, following the high street chain’s collapse, to transform them into Poundland shops.
The value retail giant has shaken up its top team in recent months, waving goodbye to its chief executive Trevor Masters, earlier this month, after a three year stint.
He was replaced by Andy Bond, chair of the board, who will step into the role of executive chair, leading the executive team and overall management of the company until a successor is appointed.
Andy Bond, executive chairman, said:“We need to improve profitability and cash generation in our established business alongside a more targeted growth plan in markets where we have an existing presence.”
“It is clear that we need to refocus on delivering for our customers in our core business while delivering more measured growth.”
