Dennis Millard
Chairman
N R
Dennis has been Chairman of the Group since 28 May 2009. His former appointments include Chairman of Connect Group plc, Non-Executive Director and Senior Independent Director of Premier Farnell plc, Chief Financial Officer of Cookson Group plc, Finance Director of Medeva plc and a member of the Economics Affairs Committee CBI.
He has broad commercial and financial experience in the retail, service, distribution and manufacturing sectors in the UK and internationally. Dennis is a member of the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants and holds an MBA from the University of Cape Town.
He is also Non-Executive Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Director of Pets at Home Group Plc and is a Non-Executive Director for Debenhams plc.
Jill McDonald
Group Chief Executive Officer
N C
Jill has been Group Chief Executive Officer since 11 May 2015. Previously Jill was CEO, UK & President, North West Division, Europe for McDonald's Corporation. Her responsibilities at McDonald's encompassed around 3,300 owned and franchised restaurants across seven countries, more than 500 franchisees and over 200,000 colleagues. Jill began her career at Colgate Palmolive and British Airways.
Jill brings outstanding business leadership, particularly with regard to customer service and colleague engagement in a consumer facing business. She is a Non-Executive Director for Intercontinental Hotels Group plc.
Jonny Mason
Chief Financial Officer
Jonny joined the business as Group Chief Financial Officer on 12 October 2015. Jonny was previously CFO of Scandi Standard AB, a Scandinavian company that successfully listed in Stockholm in June 2014. Prior to this, he was CFO at Odeon and UCI Cinemas and Finance Director of Sainsbury's Supermarkets. His early career was at Shell and Hanson plc.
Jonny brings a broad range of financial experience across consumer facing and retail businesses. He is a strong leader with a track record in a range of business contexts. Jonny is a Director of the charity Dimensions (UK) Limited.
David Adams
Senior Independent Director
A N R
David has been a Non-Executive Director since 1 March 2011 and Senior Independent Director since 1 March 2014. David was Finance Director and Deputy Chief Executive of House of Fraser plc until 2006, then Executive Chairman of Jessops plc, becoming Non-Executive Chairman in 2009. In addition, he has held several Executive and Non-Executive roles in 30 years in retailing including ten years as a plc Finance Director.
David is currently Chairman of Conviviality Retail plc, Ecovision Ltd, Park Cameras Ltd and Walk the Walk (a breast cancer charity) and is Senior Independent Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Hornby plc and Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Audit Committee at Fevertree Drinks plc and Non-Executive Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee at Elegant Hotels Group plc.
Claudia Arney
Independent Non-Executive Director
A N R
Claudia joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director in January 2011 and became Remuneration Committee Chairman in March 2014.
Claudia was previously Chairman of The Public Data Group, Deputy Chairman and Senior Independent Non-Executive Director of TelecityGroup, and a Board Member of the Shareholder Executive. In her executive career she was Group Managing Director, Digital at EMAP, Director of the Enterprise and Growth Unit at HM Treasury and Managing Director of TheStreet.co.uk. She has also worked at Goldman Sachs, FT.Com and Mckinsey. Claudia brings extensive experience of building digital businesses, strategy formulation and business transformation.
Claudia is currently a Non-Executive Director of Aviva plc, Derwent London plc and the Premier League.
Helen Jones
Independent Non-Executive Director
C A N R
Helen joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director on 1 March 2014.
Helen is currently a senior executive at Caffé Nero and is a member of Ben and Jerry's Independent Board of Directors. Helen was the CEO of the Zizzi Restaurants group and was also responsible for successfully launching the Ben & Jerry brand in the UK and Europe.
Helen brings valuable and relevant marketing and branding experience in consumer focused businesses.
Key to Committee Management: N = Nomination Committee, A = Audit Committee, R = Remuneration Committee, C = Corporate Social Responsibility Committee