Pets at Home CEO Peter Pritchard to step down
Pets at Home has announced that Peter Pritchard has decided to step down as chief executive after eleven years with the business.
He will remain in post until May 2022 to oversee the presentation of the group’s 2022 preliminary results and to ensure a smooth transition to his successor.
Pets at Home said a search for his replacement has already begun and will include both internal and external candidates.
During his four years as chief executive, Pritchard has been credited with a significant transformation of the business in which its market capitalisation has increased almost fourfold. This has been helped by major investments in capacity and capability through which the company has built an award-winning VIP loyalty club of more than 6.5 million members and invested £20 million in building a proprietary digital interface.
The company is also planning to open a purpose-built, highly automated warehouse in Stafford in 2023 and is developing a new pet care centre format.
Ian Burke, chairman of Pets at Home, said: “On behalf of the board and colleagues across the group, I would like to thank Peter for his significant contribution to Pets at Home since becoming CEO in 2018. His tireless work and dedication as leader of this great business has given it a very firm foundation for growth long into the future, for which we are all very grateful. We will all be very sorry to see Peter go, and he will leave us next summer with all our best wishes.”
Pritchard added: “Having completed everything that I set out to achieve in 2018, next summer is the right time to take well-earned rest and to hand over the reins to a new leader who will continue this journey in becoming the best petcare business in the world. I would like to thank the board for their support, and I look forward to maintaining the strong momentum in the business through the next few months and working with them to find and appoint a suitable successor.”
While Pets at Home will announce its interim results on 23 November, the retailer said today that it now anticipates that group underlying pre-tax profit for the 53 weeks to 31 March 2022 will be at the top end of the current range of analyst expectations, which is ahead of previous guidance.
