Furniture retailer, ScS, has announced the appointment of Steve Carson as group chief executive, effective from 6 January. Mr Carson will replace David Knight who plans to retire next year.
Steve Carson
Mr Carson has had an extensive career in the retail sector, most recently as group managing director of Holland and Barrett. Prior to this, he held a number of roles at Home Retail Group, which owned a number of brands such as Argos, Homebase and Habitat. Mr Carson latterly served as director of retail and customer operations, and a board member from 2014-2018, during which time HRG was acquired by Sainsbury’s.
Having worked across a number of national household brands, Mr Carson’s key expertise is in managing and optimising all areas of the store network, leading national teams and driving digital innovation, ScS says.
The announcement came in a trading statement from the company’s annual general meeting this week.
The group said it has had a positive start to the year with 14 weeks of strong order intake growth to 31 October. Like-for-like sales were up 15 per cent on last year’s figures for H1.
An ScS spokesperson said: “Whilst it is too early to provide clarity on the outlook for the weeks and months ahead, we are encouraged by the trading pattern the group experienced following the first lockdown when the business benefited from significant pent up demand and an increased level of investment by UK consumers in their homes. Whether this trend repeats itself following the second lockdown remains to be seen, however, the group has built a strong balance sheet and has worked hard to ensure it is as resilient as it can be.
“Despite the uncertainty, the focus on our value led proposition has proved successful to date and we are confident it will continue to appeal to consumers who want to buy great products at the lowest possible price.”
At 21 November 2020, the group’s cash balance totalled £113m and had no debt. Further liquidity is available through the £20.0m CLBILS revolving credit facility granted on 25 August 2020.
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