Poundland has promoted Austin Cooke, formerly its retail & transformation director, to chief operating officer.
Cooke took his new role last month, having been retail & transformation director since December 2020 and before that Poundland’s retail director UK & Ireland for three years.
A Poundland spokesman said the new title “formally reflects the added responsibility he’s had for some time”.
“We’re accelerating our work on creating a much lower-cost, efficient and consistent business, and as part of that work, Austin is also taking leadership of the re-invention of our supply chain working from the shelf back,” the spokesman added.
Cooke’s LinkedIn profile lists his latest areas of responsibility as including leading retail stores, retail operations, profit protection, productivity, supply chain, distribution and format development.
Major changes for the business with Cooke as retail & transformation director have included the rollout to hundreds of stores of frozen and chilled food, enabled by Poundland’s acquisition of Fultons Foods in October 2020.
Poundland has also launched a nationwide e-commerce service, followings its acquisition of Poundshop.com in February this year.
It has also opened its biggest stores to date, including a 15,000 sq ft one in a retail park in Nottingham in February.
No comments yet