N Brown appoints new CEO of retail

British retail conglomerate N Brown Group has announced the appointment of Dene Jones as its new chief executive officer of retail. Jones, who is scheduled to take up the position from 1 February, will succeed Sarah Welsh, who is due to step down from the role after serving for five years.

Upon entering the position, at which time he will also join the N Brown executive board, Jones has been tasked with continuing to evolve the group’s brand proposition, retail domain and product offering across its portfolio of labels, which includes, among others, JD Williams and Simply Be.

Alongside overseeing product, trade and marketing divisions, Jones is to also lead the data analytics and data visualisation teams. N Brown said the expansion of this role reflected intentions to hold accountability for its commercial activity and performance, ensuring a strong alliance between its retail and financial services departments.

Jones joins N Brown from Constellation Automotive Group, where he most recently served as group chief marketing officer and data officer, as well as CEO of one of its European subsidiaries. He has also held senior roles at Very Group and Flutter Entertainment.

In a statement, group CEO and interim chair, Steve Johnson, said: “I’m delighted to welcome Dene to N Brown’s executive board. Dene joins us at an exciting time and brings proven expertise which will deliver greater clarity and strengthen accountability across our group-wide commercial activity as we continue our evolution into an omni-channel e-tailer.”