It’s been an eventful first half of 2022 for JD Sports after being rapped by a watchdog twice and its long-time boss resigning suddenly.
In February, JD Sports was fined £4.3m by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for exchanging information with Footasylum, which it had agreed to buy at the time for £90m.
The firm’s woes continued with the CMA finding provisionally earlier this month that it conspired, together with sporting goods firm Elite Sports and Rangers Football Club, to fix prices of Rangers club clothing merchandise.
There has also been a change at the top after executive chairman Peter Cowgill stepped down suddenly in May after 18 years in the role.
Here, BusinessLive profiles the top team now leading JD Sports in the wake of Mr Cowgill’s departure.
Kath SmithKath Smith currently serves as the interim chief executive of JD Sports and was first appointed to the board as a non-executive director in May 2019.
She has 40 years of executive experience building brands including Mars and Guinness. and has almost 20 years of experience as managing director of both the adidas and Reebok brands.
Previously she was the general manager and vice president EMEA of The North Face.
Helen AshtonHelen Ashton serves as the company’s interim non-executive chair.
She was first appointed to the board in November 2021 and is also a non-executive director, chair of the audit and nominations committees and a member of the remuneration committee.
She has 30 years of experience of working in public and private equity-backed businesses and is a qualified chartered management accountant.
She is a former CFO of ASOS and has also held executive level roles in Asda, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group and CEO positions in high-growth, private equity-backed businesses.
Neil GreenhalghNeil Greenhalgh serves as the chief financial office of JD Sports.
He joined the group in June 2004 and was appointed CFO in November 2018 having been promoted from his previous role as group finance director.
Mr Greenhalgh previously held a number of senior positions within the Woolworths Group and qualified as a chartered accountant with KPMG in 1996.
Bert HoytBert Hoyt is a non-executive director as well as the interim chair of the remuneration committee and is a member of the nominations and audit committees.
He was appointed to the board in September 2021.
Having joined Nike in 1998, he was most recently VP/ GM of Nike EMEA, a position which he occupied until he retired in January of 2021.
He is acknowledged for transforming Nike’s business in Western Europe and EMEA over the last nine years, achieving substantial growth in revenues and profitability.
Some of his previous Nike experiences lie in marketing, sales/retail, general management and global category management.
Prior to his engagement at Nike, Mr Hoyt spent 10 years at Puma and six of them as GM for Puma International.
Previous to his career in the sportswear market, he was a Top 200 ATP Tennis professional from 1977 to 1984.
Andy LongAndy Long is a non-executive director of JD Sports and was appointed to the board in May 2021.
He is currently an executive director at Pentland Group and was the CEO of Pentland Brands, the Pentland Group’s portfolio of sports and fashion brands, until the end of 2020, having previously held the roles of CFO and COO.
Prior to joining Pentland, he held senior finance roles at Boots and Procter and Gamble and is a chartered management accountant.
Mr Long has been a board member at Sport England since 2016.
Mahbobeh SabetniaMahbobeh Sabetnia is a non-executive director and a member of the audit and nomination committees.
She was appointed to the board in November 2021 and has an extensive track record delivering digital growth in global organisations.
She has held executive roles within Amazon, McDonald’s, HSBC and Mars.
She is currently chief product officer for GSK Consumer Healthcare.
Suzi WilliamsSuzi Williams is a non-executive director a member of the audit, nominations and remuneration committees.
She was appointed to the board in May 2022. and has spent 30 years running global consumer brands for the BBC, Procter and Gamble and Global Radio.
Most recently as chief brand and marketing officer at BT, she ran the brand across 180 countries, led its London 2012 Olympic & Paralympic programme, and oversaw the launch of BT Sport.
She now serves on the boards of Telecom Plus plc and Zegona Communications plc where she chairs nominations and remuneration committees.
Previously she was remunerations chair at The AA plc and has held charity and government roles including as a member of ‘The Great Campaign’ board for the Cabinet Office, promoting British business overseas.
Read More Related Articles Major jobs plans revealed by online mortgage broker bought by Confused.com owner Read More Related Articles Staff handed £500 cost of living bonus as sales pass £600m