B&M chairman Peter Bamford to step down after six years at the top
The chairman of discount retail giant B&M is to retire later this year, it has been announced.
Peter Bamford has held the role at the Liverpool-headquartered group, which includes Heron Foods, since March 2018.
The London-listed company has said the search for his replacement will be led by senior independent director, Tiffany Hall.
In a statement, B&M said a retirement date has not yet been set and that Mr Bamford will continue in his role “in the meantime”.
Bamford said: “It has been a privilege to Chair B&M over the last 6 years. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with both current CEO Alex Russo and his predecessor Simon Arora, as well the rest of my board colleagues.
“The business has laid strong foundations and is trading well. B&M has a high-class leadership team in place, and we have managed succession to all the key board positions over the last two years.
“While I will miss B&M when I step down as chair, I feel that now is a good time for the company to commence the process of transition to a new chair.”
Mr Bamford succeeded Sir Terry Leahy in the role of chairman who had held it for five years.
The businessman was previously a director of Vodafone from 1998 to 2006 where he held senior executive roles, including chief marketing officer and chief executive of Vodafone NEMEA.
Prior to that he held a number of board and senior executive positions with retailers including WH Smith, Tesco and Kingfisher.
B&M chief executive Alex Russo said: “Peter has been a great business partner since I joined the business in 2020.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed working with him, both personally and professionally. His unrelenting drive in reinforcing the B&M culture at Board level has been of the first order. We wish him all the best in his next personal project.”