Media
The Very Group appoints Lionel Desclée as group CEO
July 5, 2022
- Current group CEO Henry Birch will step down on 24 September 2022 after four and a half years in the role
- Former CEO of Walmart Japan, Lionel Desclée, will join The Very Group on 19 September 2022
The Very Group, operator of multicategory digital retailers Very and Littlewoods, has appointed former president and CEO of Walmart Japan Lionel Desclée as group CEO. He will join on 19 September 2022. Current group CEO Henry Birch will step down on 24 September 2022 after four and a half years in the role.
Lionel will join The Very Group from McKinsey & Company, where he is a senior advisor. He previously spent three years as president and CEO of Walmart in Japan, where he led a 35,000-strong team at Seiyu, the Japanese supermarket business with a significant food and non-food presence. Under Lionel’s stewardship, Seiyu accelerated its move into digital through a joint venture with online retailer Rakuten, secured record-breaking colleague engagement, grew customer satisfaction and increased market share. He led Walmart’s subsequent partial exit from Seiyu to investor KKR and Rakuten.
Before joining Walmart, Lionel spent three years as president and CEO of Tom & Co, which operates over 160 pet care stores in Belgium, Luxembourg and France. Having led the management buyout of the business from Delhaize Group, Lionel increased the company’s digital offering, enhanced profitability and launched new store concepts.
Between 2005 and 2016, Lionel held a number of senior roles at global retail business Delhaize Group, with responsibility for 750 franchised or affiliated stores in Belgium and Luxembourg and more than 1,600 supermarkets on the US East Coast. While in the US, he also led finance and business planning for six retail brands including Food Lion, Hannaford and Bottom Dollar Food.
Lionel is a non-executive board member at both Tom & Co and BPost, the Belgian company responsible for the delivery of national and international mail, where he also chairs the company’s strategy committee. Originally from Belgium, Lionel is fluent in English, French and Dutch.
Under Henry Birch’s leadership, The Very Group broke the £2bn-sales mark for the first time in 2020 and, in 2021, delivered record revenue and EBITDA. Having joined in 2018, Henry has helped to transform the group, including implementing a rebrand, launching its highly automated fulfilment centre in the East Midlands, making its AI-powered chatbot the most popular customer service channel, and successfully navigating the pandemic. This culminated in The Very Group being named ‘Best Retailer of the Year’ (over £250m) and ‘Best Place to Work’ in the 2022 Retail Week Awards.
Lionel Desclée said: “I am delighted to be appointed CEO of The Very Group. The company has a rich history of transformation and an even more exciting future supporting families in the UK and Ireland with amazing brands, flexible payment options and a simple customer experience. I can’t wait to start working with the team to further strengthen the convenience, flexibility and value Very provides, whilst exploring new products and services to support our customers.”
Henry Birch commented: “It has been a privilege to lead this amazing and committed team through such an important chapter in the company’s development. As I move onto my next challenge, I am proud of the progress we have made together for our customers and our people. I am confident that under Lionel’s leadership, The Very Group will continue to thrive in the years ahead.”
Dirk Van den Berghe, The Very Group’s chairman, said: “Lionel is a highly respected leader with a wealth of global experience across digital and both food and non-food omnichannel retail. He has a proven track record of achieving growth through transformation and operational excellence, developing and coaching world-class teams, and helping companies become even more customer-centric. I am confident that Lionel’s collaborative and strategic approach will prove invaluable as The Very Group further develops its proposition, having successfully navigated the pandemic.
“Henry has guided the group superbly over the last four and a half years. He is a dedicated, innovative and people-oriented leader, and he leaves a fantastic legacy. When he heads off to take on his next challenge later this year, it will be with our very best wishes.”
Contact information
Media relations
Dave Lafferty (The Very Group) dave.lafferty@theverygroup.com
07552 283 266
Investor relations
Ed Fry (The Very Group) investor.relations@theverygroup.com
Notes to editors
About The Very Group
With annual revenue of £2.3bn, The Very Group is a unique digital business that combines online retail and flexible payments. Our family of digital retail brands, led by Very.co.uk and supported by Littlewoods.com and LittlewoodsIreland.ie, helps to bring 2,000 desirable labels within easy reach of more customers.
Our team of passionate people has a shared purpose: making good things easily accessible to more people, and we’re here for the millions of online shoppers across the UK and Ireland.
Across electrical, home, fashion and more, we sell everything our 4.8 million customers could need, except food. And our flexible payment options, which are provided responsibly via our Very Pay platform and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, help our customers manage their household budgets.
We have over a hundred years of history behind us, but at our heart there is a passion for change – to constantly improve what we do, to innovate with data and technology at our core and to be the best possible place to work.For more information, visit our website or follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.
