Spar UK Ltd has announced that it has appointed Ian Taylor as its new head of retail.
Taylor will be responsible for implementing and influencing Spar’s Inspiring Growth strategy by increasing store numbers and developing formats, and will be based at the company’s central office in Harrow.
He will also take charge of introducing and applying innovative approaches to store formats and concepts, and seek out opportunities for the commercial growth and development of the business.
Taylor joins Spar UK from The Co-Operative Farms, where he was the head of commercial operations/sales and marketing, heading up the division’s commercial operations.
During his time with the Farms business, Taylor was pivotal in turning the organisation into a sustainable, industry-leading business, and helped to change its strategic focus from its traditional roots to a wide-ranging, customer-focused and modern farming operation.
Taylor said: “I am very excited to be joining Spar, where I am committed to increasing store numbers as part of the organisation’s 10-point Inspiring Growth strategy.
“This is a fantastic brand to be working with given Spar’s 55-year history in the UK and the fact that globally Spar is the largest food retailer in the world, and I am confident that my experience can help to drive the brand forward.”
Debbie Robinson, Spar UK managing director, said: “Ian’s strong reputation for developing a growing, profitable and sustainable business by creating a strategic partnership approach to protect the security of long term supply makes him the ideal candidate to join Spar UK in this extremely important and prestigious role.”
Ian Taylor will be joining Spar UK on 13 August 2012.
Source: Spar UK
