Discount retail giant B&M has appointed a global retail leader who’s held top roles at Tesco and at Woolworths Australia as its new chief executive with a salary of more than £900,000.
Liverpool-based B&M, known for its B&M Bargains brand and which has hundreds of stores across the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ and France, has announced that Tjeerd Jegen will take over as CEO on June 16. He will succeed Mike Schmidt, who is serving as interim CEO as well as being the group’s chief financial officer.
Mr Jegen will have a base salary of £928,000 per year, as well as a potential maximum annual bonus of 250% of that salary.
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The incoming CEO, currently based in Amsterdam, has 25 years of retail experience., including leadership roles at Tesco in Thailand and Malaysia and leading the supermarkets division of Woolworth Australia. He has also been CEO of Dutch value variety chain HEMA and of discount fashion retailer Takko Fashion, and is currently CEO at Accell Group, Europe's largest e-bike manufacturer
: “B&M is a great business, serving millions of customers through a growing network of over 1,200 stores and supported by more than 40,000 dedicated colleagues. With sales approaching £6 billion, it’s a company with real scale and a clear purpose: helping people make their money go further with big brands at big savings.
“What really drew me to B&M is its strong culture and the opportunity to make a meaningful difference in customers’ everyday lives. I’m also delighted to be returning to the retail sector; a fast-paced, customer-focused world I’ve always felt at home in.
“My wife and I will be relocating to the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ in the coming months, and we’re both looking forward to this new chapter. I’m very proud to take on this role and can’t wait to work with the teams across the business, as well as our valued supply partners and landlords, who play such a vital role in our ongoing growth.
“A heartfelt thank you to the Board for their trust. I’m honoured to be joining B&M and excited for the journey ahead!”
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B&M’s chair Tiffany Hall said: "I am delighted to welcome Tjeerd to B&M. He is a highly talented international business leader with in-depth retail experience gained in Europe, Asia and Australasia across the grocery, general merchandise and value sectors.
“In what was a rigorous recruitment process, Tjeerd stood out from a strong list of candidates due to his strategic insight, customer-centric approach, and strong track record of driving growth and transformation"
The B&M group has 777 B&M stores in the º£½ÇÊÓÆµ, as well as 343 stores under the Heron Foods and B&M Express brands. It also owns 135 B&M stores in France.
The company was founded in 1978 but saw massive growth under the ownership of the Arora family, who took control in 2004 and moved the business to Speke in 2010.