Lakeland is delighted to announce that Catherine Nunn will be taking over as chief executive officer of the company on January 1, 2017, replacing Sam Rayner who remains as company chairman.
Ms Nunn joins Lakeland after more than 20 years with BP, latterly as UK retail director with accountability for running the country-wide portfolio of 330 company-owned retail sites. In this role she deepened and expanded BP's sector-leading partnership with Marks and Spencer and delivered material growth for BP against a background of overall sales decline in the forecourt sector.
Commenting on her appointment Ms Nunn said, "Great strides have been made to expand the company into a broader market and I am confident that my experience will help Lakeland to reach an even wider customer base. I have achieved considerable success with BP by relentlessly focussing on the customer and their needs and this will be just as important to my role at Lakeland.
"My considerable UK and international retail experience will allow me to take on the challenges facing retailing in 2017 and beyond and will be particularly useful at a time when Lakeland is progressing a well-planned journey into markets outside the UK. This will be a very exciting role for me as I am joining a really well founded company that is determined to continue its expansion and development in areas where I have experience and, therefore, can supplement the work of the current team."
Managing director Sam Rayner, who will remain on the board but move to the role of chairman, said: "After 40 years leading Lakeland, it is now time for a change and I am thrilled that we have been able to appoint such a talented person as our new CEO. This addition to the board completes the stepping down of the family from day to day management and leaves the operation of Lakeland from January 1 with Catherine and the team of non-family directors. I am really looking forward to working with Catherine by providing some continuity and maintaining the continued growth of Lakeland."