DFS has turned to Asda for its next finance boss.
John Fallon will join the retailer as cfo on 14 November.
Fallon has spent his career at the grocery chain, having joined as a newly qualified accountant in 1996. He became Asda cfo in June 2021 having heled a number of roles including deputy cfo, commercial finance director, group financial controller, internal audit director and non-executive director of international procurement and logistics.
‘We are really excited to welcome John to our group. He is a fantastic addition to our leadership team and brings a wealth of retail experience, leadership skills and energy to the group,’ says Tim Stacey, DFS group ceo.
‘I’m excited to be joining the group at this important time. I’m not only looking forward to working closely with Tim and the board, but also the wider leadership teams in helping the company deliver on its strategy for growth and its vision to lead furniture retailing in the digital age,’ says Fallon.
His appointment comes at a time when the group has seen an upturn in orders. Order volumes have risen on its 2022 financial year and 2019 since early September. ‘We’ve seen a better picture for those consumers who have a reasonable amount of cash and are feeling confident. With employment being strong, those people have come out in September and October, and we’ve seen that trend continue,’ says Stacey.
‘Our consumer segments are the middle and upper segments. DFS is a mass market player and we’re seeing good growth. So, we are benefiting from the targets that we go for. We’re not seeing significant trading down, if anything, average orders are up.’
He says the company is gaining market share and performance is in line with its mid-case trading scenario given to shareholders in September.
