Management

Stephan is an accomplished CEO with a strong track record of leading international companies across various sectors including fashion, beauty, pharmacy and healthcare services. His extensive experience in leading complex, multi-brand retail businesses globally and in EMEA made him the stand-out candidate in the search process.

Stephan served from 2018 to 2022 as CEO of GrandVision, the global leader in optical retail operating more than 7,400 stores in more than 40 countries worldwide under more than 33 different retail banners. He led GrandVision – owner of the Vision Express and Apollo Optik chains in Europe – until it was acquired by EssilorLuxottica in July 2022, delivering significant value for shareholders.

Prior to GrandVision, Stephan was President of Sephora EMEA on the Global Executive Committee, where he again improved profitability and increased revenue, while accelerating the beauty and cosmetics retailer’s omni-channel development. He is currently holding non-executive director roles at two major pan-European retail companies in the sector of beauty and apparel.

Neil Galloway joined Pepco Group as CFO in April 2023.  He is an experienced public company CFO who has worked in senior finance and commercial roles at multi-national businesses over the last 15 years, following an 18 year career in investment banking.  Prior to Pepco Neil was Executive Vice President at IWG plc and led the corporate finance and business development activities.  From 2013 to 2019 Neil was Group Finance Director at DFI Retail Group, the international multi-format retailer based in Hong Kong and operating across 11 markets in Asia.  Prior to that he was Group Finance Director of The Hongkong & Shanghai Hotels Limited.  He is also a Non-Executive Director of AVI Global Trust plc, a FTSE 250 investment trust.

Viola joins us from Aldi Nord in Germany, which she joined in 2019. Her most recent role was as Managing Director – People & Culture International, where she successfully built up a new HR organisation. Viola has a successful track record and over two decades of senior HR experience. In her previous roles, she was Head of HR with Veolia in Germany for over six years and then spent more than eight years as CHRO with Aon.

Mark Elliott took up his current role as Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer in November 2023 having re-joined Pepco Group after a brief sabbatical. Prior to that he held a number of senior leadership roles over an 11-year period, including Managing Director of the Dealz business in Spain and Business Development Director for the Group looking after strategy, M&A, projects, and management of the corporate office. Before Pepco Group, Mark worked for Nectar – the customer loyalty programme of J Sainsbury Plc in the UK – and started his career at Bain & Company.

Marcin joined the Group in 2007 as Pepco Buying Director before becoming Managing Director of Dealz CEE in 2017. Marcin is responsible for launching and expanding Dealz in CEE. He has over 23 years’ experience in various retail functions, including store operations and buying and merchandising, having held the positions of Buying Director at Auchan and Store Director at Dixons prior to joining the Group.

Austin Cooke joined Pepco Group as Managing Director for Western Europe in July 2017, leading our Dealz brand in France and Spain. In Early 2018 he was appointed to the role of Retail Director for Poundland UK and Dealz Ireland, and then progressed to Retail and Transformation Director, and then Chief Operating Officer. In 2023 he was appointed as Managing Director of Poundland. Austin has a track record in retail and hospitality, working internationally across Operations, Supply Chain, Marketing, Business Development, and M&A for Phones 4u, Yum Brands Inc (KFC), and Dixons Group.

Barry joined Poundland in 2016 as Trading Director and was promoted to Managing Director of Poundland in 2017. He has over 30 years’ experience within the retail sector, 20 of which were in the discount sector, having spent his early career at Kwik Save and having served most recently as Trading Director and then Marketing Director at Asda. Between these periods, he gained experience in partnership models with the Co-Operative Movement and in wholesale with Musgrave Retail Partners.

Pablo joins us from Avolta, the Swiss-based global travel retailer, with 5,500 outlets in over 75 countries, employing 36,000 people.  During his 14 years with Avolta, Pablo held senior leadership positions in Supply Chain, Retail Operations, Strategy and Business Development. For the past seven years, Pablo was Global CIO, responsible for defining and executing Avolta’s IT strategy to drive digital and technological transformation.

Ned Staple joined Pepco as Group General Counsel & Company Secretary in September 2023. He worked previously at NYSE listed online car retailer Cazoo and LSE listed property portal and data business ZPG Plc (formerly Zoopla). He led the legal and compliance functions of both businesses through their IPOs. He started his career in private practice in the corporate team of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, working on securities transactions, joint ventures and M&A across multiple sectors.