Former Tesco UK boss chair to chair Greggs

Former Tesco UK boss chair to chair Greggs
Greggs PLC has named former Tesco UK boss Matthew Davies as its an independent non-executive director and chair designate.

He will join the board immediately and take over as chair on November 1, 2022, when the current chair, Ian Durant, steps down.

The bakery chain said Davies is an experienced retailer, having previously been Tesco UK & Ireland chief executive and group CEO at Pets at Home Group PLC and Halfords Group PLC.

As a non-executive director, he chaired N Brown Group PLC between 2018 and 2021, and was on the board of Dunelm Group PLC  between 2012 and 2015.

Davies also is chair of private equity-owned Hobbycraft, and is an operating partner at Advent International.

“Greggs has undergone a transformation over the past decade and I am proud to have contributed to its achievements as chair. Greggs has entered a new era, now under Roisin Currie’s leadership, and the business is in great shape with a clear strategy,” said Ian Durant, chair of Greggs.

Greggs PLC has also reported a jump in half-year sales. For the six months that ended July 2, pretax profit was £55.8 million, 0.5% higher compared to £55.3 million a year before. This was on total sales of £694.5 million, up 27% versus £546.2 million.

Greggs noted that this half-year period benefited from a stronger sales contribution. However, the previous period profited from a temporary relief from business rates and reduced rates of value-added tax.

The company said sales were “encouraging” during the period, with sales patterns returning to more normalised levels in the second quarter.

“The breadth of the Greggs estate continues to provide geographical diversification as consumer behaviour adjusts coming out of the pandemic. Our strong presence in towns and suburbs, along with a growing portfolio of convenient roadside shops, has counter-balanced the slower recovery seen in large city centres and public transport hubs,” Greggs said.