John Browett 'definitely not in the running' for Halfords chief exec role

A source close to Halfords told Retail Week that Browett is not being considered as Halfords chief executive to replace Matt Davies, who is leaving to become managing director of Tesco’s UK operation.

Browett was linked to the Halfords top job over the weekend by a newspaper report.

The former Monsoon boss, who parted company with the retailer on Thursday, is also understood to have ruled himself out of the running for the chief executive role at supermarket giant Morrisons.

Browett previously ran Tesco’s online delivery business before departing to become chief executive at Currys and PC World owner Dixons.

He then spent an ill-fated six-month stint at Apple ahead of moving to Monsoon. His shock exit from Monsoon emerged at the end of last week.

Davies is leaving Halfords for Tesco in May and has denied his departure will be detrimental to the cycling retailer’s business.

He said last month that he was “gutted” to be leaving Halfords in May, but explained the opportunity was too good to turn down.

He added there is “still a lot to do” before he steps down in May, including the continuation of store refreshes and linking pay to capability, but argued “there’s an awful lot that we have achieved” during his time as chief executive.