New wholesale chief for Jack Wills

British fashion brand Jack Wills has appointed Greg Roberts to the newly created role of Wholesale Director as it embarks on a targeted wholesale expansion strategy.

In his new role, Roberts will spearhead the execution of Jack Wills’ new wholesale strategy and focus on three core areas: building the brand’s wholesale business in the UK with complimentary retailers; launching the wholesale business in Europe, particularly in Northern Europe and Scandinavia; and establishing new wholesale markets internationally.

Roberts has a wealth of experience directing an international wholesale strategy. He served as head of international business development at SuperGroup for the past six years, responsible for globalising the SuperDry brand through franchise and licence agreements, and leading the international wholesale business.

During this time, he strategised, built and led direct subsidiaries in North America, franchise and licence partnerships across Asia Pacific, Middle East/ North Africa, Latin America, Australia and Europe as well as a joint venture agreement in China.

Commenting on the appointment, Jack Wills CEO Peter Williams said: "This is a very exciting moment and the beginning of a significant new chapter in the life of Jack Wills. We currently have a wholesale business with a small number of retailers in the UK. By hiring Greg, we can now begin a targeted and sophisticated strategy to build the wholesale business at home in the UK and in important markets overseas. This will significantly grow our sales and international footprint, and increase the awareness and presence of the brand globally.

"We have never before had the resource, investment or scale to do this and it has been the missing piece of the jigsaw. In order to build on our growth and success to date and take us to the next level we need to meaningfully develop this side of the business to properly grow our sales, profit and margin. Greg is one of the best in the industry and I am absolutely delighted that he will be joining us to take on responsibility for making this new project a huge success."

Greg Roberts added: “Having a strong story behind a brand and its history is crucial when talking to third parties and potential partners in the UK and overseas and Jack Wills' story is not only interesting but easy to communicate globally. There are some great building blocks in place from which to develop the Wholesale strategy, including building on the fantastic brand awareness and presence which Jack Wills has in key markets like the US".

Roberts’ appointment is part of a series of key hires Jack Wills has unveiled in the past months. The company appointed Claire Waugh as Chief Marketing Officer from Burberry and Mike Doyle joined as Chief Financial Officer from Good Hair Day (GHD).

The appointments also come on the back of a 4% sales growth in financial year 2016, with group EBITDA increasing to £12m at constant exchange rates.

New wholesale chief for Jack Wills

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