Online-only grocer Ocado has announced the appointment of Mat Ankers as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Ankers will join the business in autumn this year and will be responsible for overseeing finance, operations, IT and Insights at Ocado Retail.

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In a statement posted on social media, Ocado expressed its delight at welcoming Ankers to the company. Ankers himself said he was “incredibly excited” to join the Ocado Retail team and thanked the company for the warm welcome.

Ankers added: “Incredibly excited to be joining the Ocado Retail team. Thank you for all the well wishes and the warm welcome from the team at Ocado."

“It has been (and continues to be until the summer) an incredible journey with the Pepco Group where I have had an enormous number of opportunities to work in some of the most exciting retail businesses in Europe and I’m thrilled I can continue to work for another retail business with massively exciting growth opportunities."

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Ankers has a wealth of strategic and financial experience from his time at retailers across Europe. He has been with the parent company of Poundland and Dealz, Pepco Group, since December 2015, holding a raft of positions including group financial controller from December 2015 to August 2017 and finance director from August 2017-March 2019. In March 2019, he was appointed transformational director at Poundland & Dealz, a position he held for over a year, before being promoted to group strategy and investor relations at Pepco Group in January last year. Prior to the Pepco Group, Ankers held the position of head of corporate planning at fashion house French Connection, from February 2014 to December 2015.

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Ocado is ranked Top350 in RXUK Top500 research, and the appointment of Ankers is seen as a positive move for the company. According to Internet Retailing, “the appointment of Ankers is a sign of Ocado’s ambition to continue to grow and expand its operations”.

Ankers’ appointment comes at a time when Ocado is looking to expand its operations and increase its presence in the online grocery market. The company has recently announced plans to open a new warehouse in the Midlands, and is also looking to expand its delivery service to more areas of the UK.

With Ankers’ experience in the retail sector, Ocado is confident that he will be able to help the company reach its goals. As CFO, Ankers will be responsible for helping to drive the company’s growth and profitability, as well as ensuring that the company’s financial success.

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Sources: https://internetretailing.net/ocado-cfo-mat-ankers/