Kingfisher says goodbye to another director
Published: 21 June 2017 - Fiona Garcia
Jean-Paul Constant has stepped down from his role at Kingfisher
B&Q parent confirms chief sales and retail operations officer John-Paul Constant will step down after less than a year in the role.
Kingfisher today confirmed Mr Constant’s departure but said it would not comment any further on the subject.
Mr Constant joined Kingfisher from Decathlon 10 months ago, taking up the role of chief sales and retail operations officer on the home improvement giant’s board.
His departure follows hot on the heels of news that Wesfarmers’ UK Bunnings operation has poached B&Q’s retail director. Damian McGloughlin resigned from his post at B&Q to take up the role of COO at the Australian DIY chain.
Much has been made in the media of the recent departures from Kingfisher and its B&Q business, following an announcement in April that B&Q CEO Michael Loeve was to step down after two years in the role. It was reported that Mr Loeve had taken the decision to leave the company because of “family reasons”, with plans to return home to Denmark. It was also revealed that Mr Constant to take on some of his workload and responsibilities in the weeks leading up to his departure.
Since then, Kingfisher announced that it has appointed Christian Mazauric, head of its Brico Depot operations in Romania, to run B&Q in the UK & Ireland. He will assume the role of CEO from July 1.
The latest news comes as Kingfisher continues with the five-year turnaround plan, One Kingfisher, put together and announced last year by group chief executive Véronique Laury. The transformation plan aims to deliver £500 million of profit uplift by year five, over and above ‘business as usual’.