Matalan strengthens leadership team with five senior hires

Matalan has announced the appointment of five senior executives.

Commenting on the new appointments, Jo Whitfield, chief executive officer of Matalan, said: “To attract talent of the calibre of each and every one of these individuals is testament to the strength of the Matalan brand and the opportunity that we have to deliver sustainable future growth across our business.”

The company has appointed a new director of online, David Seeby to drive forward its e-commerce offer, harnessing new technology to build a best-in-class omnichannel experience for Matalan’s customers. Seeby joins from Boden where he led the digital trading, user experience and digital product teams as director of product management & experience. He previously held roles in the digital teams of Country Road Group, House of Fraser, M&S and Dixons Retail.

John O’Driscoll joins Matalan as director of strategy, responsible for overseeing the delivery of the leadership team’s strategic plans to build a stronger, more modern Matalan. O’Driscoll joins Matalan from the Co-op, where he spent over 11 years, most recently as director of strategic planning & solutions.

The company said in a release that Matalan’s new head of womenswear buying, Toni Salters-Warner brings over 25 years’ retail experience to the role, joining from Sainsbury’s, where she spent over 10 years culminating in her role as head of womenswear buying for the retailer. Previously, Salters-Warne spent over nine years with George at Asda, where she spent time working across the womenswear, menswear and kidswear departments.

Jo Murphy has been appointed head of design. Murphy joins from Primark, where she spent over 8 years, most recently as head of design. Prior to this, she spent five years at M&S, primarily overseeing design within its homeware and kidswear departments. Murphy has over 25 years’ industry experience, having also held roles with Next, Arcadia and Reebok.

Matalan’s fifth new hire is Charlotte Dewhurst, who joins as its new director of marketing. Dewhurst is a marketer with nearly 20 years’ industry experience, which includes managing full channel mix in global and regional businesses. Joining from FTSE-100 business RS Group, Dewhurst brings experience leading the marketing and brand functions at ClearScore, Les Mills International, Argos and Morrisons.

“We are delighted that David, John, Toni, Jo and Charlotte are joining the Matalan team. In different but very important ways, each of their appointments will help us on our mission to serve everyday families better, by offering a choice of stylish, good quality and long-lasting products, all at great prices,” Whitfield added.