Mamas & Papas appoints former Asda exec to CFO

Kidswear and nursery brand Mamas & Papas has announced the appointment of Sarah Ashby to the role of chief financial officer, a position the executive had taken up earlier in January.

Ashby joined the company from Asda, where she most recently served as senior director, finance for projects, M&A. Prior to this, she had overseen the finance of the supermarket giant’s clothing and general merchandise as well as its own clothing brand, George.

Ashby had also held similar senior and director finance positions at Pladis Global, The Kraft Heinz Company and Procter & Gamble, all of which she took on after founding and presiding over the Oxford Women in Business society.

Her appointment follows the announcement of an accelerated expansion strategy at Mamas & Papas, a move it unveiled after reporting a significant bump up in sales of 17 percent during the 13 week period to December 31.

Profits for the retailer had also risen a further 50 percent, with growth seen across all of the company’s channels, including its owned stores, concessions and online platform.

According to The Mail on Sunday, an expansion would build on the retailer’s current 33 ‘store-in-store’ spaces, existing both in Next and Marks & Spencer, with additional growth plans also set for Spain, Thailand and Indonesia.