Sustainable babycare challenger Pura has appointed Dave Lawson as its first managing director, as it seeks to accelerate global growth.
Lawson brings more than 20 years’ experience across retail, e-commerce and consumer goods, in roles spanning finance, commercial, digital, supply chain and executive leadership.
After beginning his career in finance and gaining a Chartered Institute of Management Accountant qualification, Lawson progressed into senior commercial and operational leadership roles.
He spent 12 years at AO World, a retail group specialising in electrical goods. His time culminated in the position of MD of AO.com, where he led teams across the UK and Germany and helped to grow the business to more than £1bn in sales.
More recently, Lawson headed Synergise Consultants, advising more than 20 SME e-commerce businesses on growth strategy, digital transformation and commercial performance.
In his role at Pura, he will report to co-founder & CEO Guy Fennell, focusing on establishing Pura’s global presence. He is expected to work closely with retail partners and grow Pura’s presence through channels including Amazon, while continuing to strengthen the company’s UK business.
“I am delighted to welcome Dave to the team,” Fennell said. “With Dave leading the day-to-day business, and with the strength of the existing team we have across Pura, I’m excited about accelerating our growth, increasing revenue, improving profitability and continuing to build long-term value for our shareholders.”
Pura was “a business with a fantastic team, a strong culture and a genuine purpose”, Lawson said. His aim was to make Pura “one of the world’s leading babycare brands”.
“We’ll achieve that by continuing to develop outstanding products that parents genuinely love, investing even further in quality and innovation, and expanding our product range into complementary categories where we can add real value,” he added.
“I’m excited to work alongside the team to help unlock the next phase of growth and establish Pura as a leading global babycare brand. Pura has already achieved so much, and I believe its biggest opportunities still lie ahead.”
Pura was founded in Chester in summer 2020 by Fennell and his wife, Abi Fennell. It began as a DTC operation that offered plastic-free Eco Baby Wipes. It quickly expanded into the likes of disposable nappies and flushable toilet tissue wipes – and landed its first major high street listing in April 2022, with Asda.
A certified B Corporation, Pura recently relaunched its wipes and nappies with new pack designs and enhanced products. It included the addition of Blowout Blocker, a pocket in nappies that helps to keep a ’poonami’ securely contained.
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