Kingfisher appoints former Carrefour boss as new CEO

DIY retailer retailer Kingfisher, which owns B&Q, has appointed Thierry Garnier as its new chief executive officer.

Garnier will be appointed to the board as an executive director and will take over from Véronique Laury as CEO. He will be based at Kingfisher’s headquarters in London and will join Kingfisher in the autumn.

According to the group, Garnier is an “experienced” retailer having spent 20 years in senior roles at Carrefour, the French multi-national retailer. He is currently a member of the Carrefour Group executive committee and the CEO of Carrefour Asia, where he is responsible for over 350 stores in China and Taiwan, with 55,000 employees, and gross sales of over €6bn (£5.3bn).

Andy Cosslett, chairman of Kingfisher, said: “On behalf of the Board, I am delighted to welcome Thierry to Kingfisher. He is a highly talented international retailer and proven business leader, with a strong track record over many years at Carrefour. Throughout his career he has led significant businesses through complex change programmes while operating in competitive and rapidly changing retail environments.

“In what was a rigorous recruitment process, Thierry stood out for the Board from a strong list of candidates due to his recognised operational know-how at a multi-national retail business, his delivery of long-term value creation, and his experience in driving leading edge digital innovation, most recently in China.”

Commenting on his appointment, Garnier added: “I am delighted to be joining Kingfisher at an exciting point of its development. For over 20 years, I have had a great passion for retail, for retail teams, and for understanding and addressing changing customer behaviours.

“I believe that the home improvement market provides great opportunity for us, and by harnessing Kingfisher’s market leading positions and obvious strengths, consistently meeting our customers’ needs, embracing our digital opportunity and driving innovation, I am confident that we can build an even stronger business for our customers, our colleagues and our shareholders.”