The former president and CEO of Walmart Japan has been hired as the new boss of the group behind Very and Littlewoods.
Speke-headquartered Very Group has hired Lionel Desclée who will join on September 19.
Current group CEO Henry Birch will step down on September 24 after four and a half years in the role.
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Mr Desclée will join from McKinsey & Company where he is a senior advisor. He previously spent three years as president and CEO of Walmart in Japan, where he led a 35,000-strong team at Seiyu, the Japanese supermarket business.
Before joining Walmart, Mr Desclée spent three years as president and CEO of Tom & Co, which operates over 160 pet care stores in Belgium, Luxembourg and France.
Between 2005 and 2016, he held a number of senior roles at global retail business Delhaize Group, with responsibility for 750 franchised or affiliated stores in Belgium and Luxembourg and more than 1,600 supermarkets on the US East Coast.
While in the US, he also led finance and business planning for six retail brands including Food Lion, Hannaford and Bottom Dollar Food.
Mr Desclée is a non-executive board member at both Tom & Co and BPost, the Belgian company responsible for the delivery of national and international mail, where he also chairs the company’s strategy committee.
He said: "I am delighted to be appointed CEO of The Very Group. The company has a rich history of transformation and an even more exciting future supporting families in the UK and Ireland with amazing brands, flexible payment options and a simple customer experience.
"I can’t wait to start working with the team to further strengthen the convenience, flexibility and value Very provides, whilst exploring new products and services to support our customers."
Mr Birch added: "It has been a privilege to lead this amazing and committed team through such an important chapter in the company’s development.
"As I move onto my next challenge, I am proud of the progress we have made together for our customers and our people. I am confident that under Lionel’s leadership, The Very Group will continue to thrive in the years ahead."
Dirk Van den Berghe, The Very Group’s chairman, said: "Lionel is a highly respected leader with a wealth of global experience across digital and both food and non-food omnichannel retail.
"He has a proven track record of achieving growth through transformation and operational excellence, developing and coaching world-class teams, and helping companies become even more customer-centric.
"I am confident that Lionel’s collaborative and strategic approach will prove invaluable as The Very Group further develops its proposition, having successfully navigated the pandemic.
"Henry has guided the group superbly over the last four and a half years. He is a dedicated, innovative and people-oriented leader, and he leaves a fantastic legacy. When he heads off to take on his next challenge later this year, it will be with our very best wishes."
