Some of the names behind the £140m acquisition of Argos from Sainsbury’s will be more than familiar to the grocery and retail sectors. Swift, the newly established company set up to acquire Argos, is led by Richard Pennycook, Trevor Strain and Matt Truman, executive chairman of True Capital, which is backing the deal.
Richard Pennycook
Probably most notable as “the man who saved The Co-op”, Pennycook has had a distinguished career in grocery. He cemented his reputation after joining Morrisons as finance director in 2005. He joined the retailer at a tough time, when Morrisons had been forced into the first profits warning in its history following the acquisition of Safeway. Pennycook was seen as playing a key role in steering Morrisons out of those troubled waters. However he left the business in 2013 having twice missed out on the CEO role.
Pennycook joined the Co-op Group as CEO in 2014 at the height of a financial meltdown at the Co-op Bank, and is widely credited with saving the bank and revitalising the Co-op’s food business.
Upon leaving, then Co-op chairman Allan Leighton said: “In three short years he has rescued and rebuilt our business, and restored pride to our 70,000 colleagues and 4.5 million members. We owe Richard a huge debt of gratitude and his place in Co-op history is secured.”
Since leaving Co-op Pennycook embarked upon a portfolio career, becoming chairman of the BRC and department store chain Fenwick, and the lead non-executive board member at the Department of Education. He also had a spell as non-executive chairman at 2 Sisters Food Group parent Boparan Holdings.
He is currently a senior advisor at True Capital.
Trevor Strain
Strain was a key leader at Morrisons for more than a decade. He started out at the retailer as commercial and operations finance director in 2009. He was promoted to the board as chief financial officer in 2013 and became COO in 2019. Like Pennycook before him, he was also tipped as potential Morrisons CEO, however he left the business in 2022 after Morrisons was taken over by private equity firm Clayton Dubilier & Rice the previous year.
Another highly respected grocery player, Strain had, before Morrisons, held a number of executive roles at Tesco, including property finance director and UK planning and reporting finance director. After leaving Morrisons he become portfolio director at Ranjit Singh Boparan’s private office in late 2023.
Matt Truman
Matt Truman provides the financial muscle behind the deal. He co-founded True Capital, a consumer and retail specialist investment firm, in London in 2013.
Truman, who started his career at Deloitte, brought a wealth of industry experience to his new firm given his time as head of retail at Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan, advising the likes of Tesco, Booker and Ocado. He also showed his entrepreneurial pedigree in his spare time while at the banks by building two e-commerce businesses and exiting both to private equity.
Sainsbury’s said Truman would complement Pennycook’s and Strain’s skillsets with expertise in consumer brands, retail technology, digital innovation and AI transformation.
Today, True, where Truman is executive chairman, has more than £600m of assets under management across venture capital, private equity and investments in public companies. Its advisory arm also works with retail titans such as Primark owner Associated British Foods, Marks & Spencer and Walmart.
Truman also has plenty of experience working alongside Pennycook, who is a senior advisor at the firm.
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