Dixons Carphone hires ex-John Lewis exec Connolly as commercial chief

Connolly, who was previously the partnership’s director of partnership strategy, will take up his new role on May 4.

His appointment comes as part of a reshuffle of Dixons Carphone’s top team.

Connolly will replace current chief commercial officer Steve Ager, who is departing the electricals giant in June to take up a new role.

Chief operating officer Alan Ritchie is also leaving the company in June after 11 years working across its retail business, supply chain and contact centres.

Following Ritchie’s departure, chief digital officer Mark Allsop, who joined Dixons Carphone from Merlin Entertainments in January, will take on an expanded remit.

Allsop will be promoted to chief operating officer, adding responsibility for stores and contact centres to his existing digital and online duties.

Chief executive Alex Baldock said: “I am delighted to welcome Ed to Dixons Carphone as chief commercial officer. Ed is a forward-thinking and innovative leader who is focused on building strong, customer-obsessed and highly commercial teams.

“I am also pleased to be bringing our stores, contact centres and online business together under Mark Allsop’s leadership in his role as chief operating officer. This will enable us to become truly omnichannel and deliver a seamlessly integrated store and digital experience.

“I would like to thank Steve and Alan for their important contributions to Dixons Carphone over many years. We look forward to building on their hard work and successes as we continue with the transformation of the business in our vision to help everyone enjoy amazing technology.”

Connolly added: “I am delighted to be joining Dixons Carphone, a business I have admired for a long time and undergoing one of the most exciting transformations in retail. Ensuring we have a world-class commercial function will be crucial to delivering our vision of helping everyone enjoy amazing technology and I can’t wait to be a part of that.”