Hobbycraft poaches Majestic MD John Colley to replace Catriona Marshall

Hobbycraft owner Bridgepoint has confirmed the appointment, hours after Majestic revealed that Colley was stepping down to take a role closer to his two young sons in the South of England.

Marshall, who became boss of the Bournemouth-based business just over six years ago, is understood to be stepping down to spend more time with her partner and pursue charitable trust work.

She will depart the retailer in July.

Hobbycraft chairman Archie Norman said: “John brings substantial multichannel retail experience which will be especially relevant in completing the business transformation Catriona has led and in developing the next phase of the Hobbycraft growth strategy.

“The board thanks Catriona for all that she has achieved for Hobbycraft and wishes her every success for the future.”

Colley, who will leave Majestic at the end of May, said: “Hobbycraft is a unique business with exceptional teams and products.

“I feel very privileged to be tasked with taking the company to even bigger and greater things.”

Majestic group chief executive Rowan Gormley will take on Colley’s responsibilities at the helm of Majestic’s retail division, with no other management changes to be made.

Majestic Wine said Colley had “played a key part in the first phase of the transformation of Majestic Retail” by personalising the business and rebuilding its processes.

Under Colley’s stewardship, Majestic’s retail arm has rebuilt its senior leadership team, increased its focus on customer service and shopper loyalty and rolled out click and collect and next-day delivery propositions.

Earlier this month, Retail Week revealed the business had launched its first entry-level own-label wine range as it took aim at its supermarket competitors.

Gormley said Colley’s work had helped get Majestic “back on its feet”.

He added: “For the first time in many years, Majestic is organically growing sales and our job is now to accelerate that by building our customer base through loyalty.

“This is exactly what gets me excited and what I love doing so it’s a perfect time for me to get more involved.”

Colley arrived at Majestic in September 2015, having spent the previous four years at Praxis in the Netherlands and Maxeda DIY Group in the Benelux region.

Prior to his stint on the continent, Colley spent six years at Kingfisher as commercial director for Screwfix and then B&Q, having spent his early career at Woolworths and Home Retail Group.