Pets at Home appoints new chairman
Pets at Home has appointed Ian Burke as its new chairman following an “extensive” internal and external search process.
The group initially said it was looking to appoint a successor to outgoing chair Tony DeNunzio in its interim results last November.
Since 2017, Burke was chair of Studio Retail Group plc, and he is also a non-executive senior independent director of Intu properties, where he has been a member of “various” board committees since 2018.
The pet retailer said that Burke has “extensive” board experience, having previously acted as CEO of Thistle Hotels, and chair of the privately owned veterinary group Vet Partners. He also had a long tenure on the board at Rank Group as non-executive chair, executive chair and CEO.
DeNunzio will stay in his role to “ensure an orderly handover”, and Burke will assume his role at the start of the new financial year.
Peter Pritchard, group chief executive officer, said: “Over the last 10 years, Tony has been an exceptional chair overseeing our transition from a private business to a listed company.
“Our recent performance is reflective of the progress we are making by focusing on our core capabilities and differences. We will miss Tony and thank him for his enormous contribution, his wise counsel and above all his friendship.”
He added: “We all wish him well for the future. I’m delighted to welcome Ian, as our new Chairman, and look forward to working alongside him as we continue to deliver our exciting strategy.”