Higginson recruits former Sainsbury's CFO to Poundland board

SENIOR FINANCE EXECUTIVE Darren Shapland (pictured) has been drafted in to help Poundland float on the London Stock Exchange.

Appointed as senior independent director along with a raft of other big-ticket appointments, Shapland will bring his experience as Carpetright CFO and CEO, and as Sainsbury’s CFO, to the role. The move will see Shapland work alongside former Tesco FD Andy Higginson, Poundland’s chairman.

The float, scheduled for March, is aiming to raise £750m and will see up to 25% of its equity placed on the market. The 530-store group posted £880m in revenues for 2012/13, and operates out of 530 stores in the UK and Ireland.

Also joining the board is Trevor Bond, who will chair its audit committee. Bond is president and chief customer officer at Mondel?z International (formerly Kraft Foods, Inc). He has spent most of his career at Cadbury.

Merlin Entertainments HR director Tea Colaianni will chair its remuneration committee. Travelodge CEO Grant Hearn will serve as its executive chairman, also chairing its governance and nominations committee.

Higginson said: “I am delighted to welcome Darren, Trevor, Tea and Grant to the board. That Poundland has attracted non-executive directors of their calibre is a testament to the strength of the business. Their combined experience and retail insight will be invaluable to the board. I believe we now have an excellent board to take the company into its next phase as a public company.”