Majestic makes further board changes with CFO appointment

By Lisa Riley

Published: 13 February, 2020

Majestic has appointed Alex Jablonowski to the new position of chief financial officer.

Jablonowski joins from the Oasis & Warehouse Group, and previously also worked at Hamleys, Tesco and Costa Coffee.

The latest appointment follows a series of changes to the the board, as the nationwide retailer embarks on a new future under the ownership of private equity firm Fortress.

Changes made in the last month include the recruitment of HR director, Suzanne Kielty and the promotion of Robert Cooke to chief commercial officer, as well as the departure of MD Josh Lincoln and chief customer officer Natalie Thng.

Focusing Majestic’s senior team back on the core retail business would be vital to the long term future of the company, said new boss John Colley, who returned to the business under its new ownership having led Majestic between 2015 and 2017.

Jablonowski's background in helping to build business strategies, at the very top level with previous private equity experience, would be “hugely beneficial in order to create value and growth to this company”, he added.

“The recent changes we have made to the board show our commitment to getting Majestic back to what it's done best. We now have a range of expertise across the senior team, with specialists in retail, wine, HR and developing our multi-channel capability. I am confident that we’ve built the right team for the challenges, and opportunities, of the future,” he said.

Jablonowski said he was “delighted to be joining Majestic at this exciting stage in the businesses’ 40 year history”.

“I believe we have all the ingredients here to be one of the long term success stories of UK retail. I can’t wait to get started and meet my colleagues both in the office and out on the shop floor.”

Last month, Majestic also promoted Keith Blessley and Nick Workman to retail director and director of IT respectively.

Majestic announced a 4.3% increase in sales in the final quarter of 2019, boosted by a strong festive performance. The chain also claimed 23 December as the largest trading day in its 40-year history.

Colley attributed much of the retailer’s seasonal growth to the renewed loyalty of its customer base.

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