Matalan makes changes to leadership team with five new hires

Matalan has named David Seeby as its new director of online, John O’Driscoll as director of strategy, Toni Salters-Warner as head of womenswear buying, Jo Murphy as head of design and Charlotte Dewhurst as director of marketing.

Seeby joins as the retailer’s new online director from Boden where he was most recently director of product management and experience. He also previously held senior roles at House of Fraser, Marks & Spencer and Dixons Retail, among others.

O’Driscoll has joined the business from the Co-op having most recently been director of strategy planning and solutions.

Matalan’s new head of womenswear buying Salters-Warner brings more than 25 years of retail experience to the business and joins from Sainsbury’s where she spent more than 10 years including as head of womenswear buying. She also previously worked across the womenswear, menswear and childrenswear departments at George at Asda.

Murphy joins Matalan from Primark in the same role that she held at the value fashion giant and she previously held roles at M&S, Next, Arcadia and Reebok.

Dewhurst, who is taking on the role of marketing director,  brings almost 20 years of experience to Matalan. She joins from RS Group and has experience managing the full channel mix in global and regional businesses. Dewhurst has worked at retailers including Argos and Morrisons.

Matalan chief executive Jo Whitfield said: “To attract talent of the calibre of each and every one of these individuals is a testament to the strength of the Matalan brand and the opportunity that we have to deliver sustainable future growth across our business.

“We are delighted that David, John, Toni, Jo and Charlotte are joining the Matalan team. In different but very important ways, each of their appointments will help us on our mission to serve everyday families better by offering a choice of stylish, good quality and long-lasting products, all at great prices.

“With such a highly experienced team in place, we’re now in an even stronger position to deliver our ambitious business transformation programme.”

Dewhurst is expected to start next month and the other four executives have already joined the retailer.

The hires are part of Matalan’s business transformation strategy and follow a string of appointments.

The most recent was of new chief financial officer Dave Williams, following the departure of Stephen Hill.