The Grocer – 10 August 2019

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Helen Gilbert

Former chief operating

o cer of Wilko Sean Toal

has been named as the

new MD of WH Smith.

Toal, whose appoint-

ment became e ective

this month, will take full

accountability for the

business from October.

Toal spent over  ve

years at Wilko before

stepping down in

January as part of a man-

agement shake-up that

saw Andrew Moore and

Alex Russo join from

Asda.

Prior to that he

amassed 12 years’ service

at the Co-op Group – hav-

ing joined the society in

2000 as director of retail

operations.

Toal will report into

Carl Cowling, who will

Wilko’s Sean Toal to

become managing

director of WH Smith

become the new group

chief executive succeed-

ing Stephen Clarke, who

steps down on 31 October

following 15 years with

the company.

“We warmly welcome

Sean to the business,

and look forward to the

wealth of retail experi-

ence and expertise he

will bring to WH Smith,”

Cowling said.

WH Smith employs

around 14,000 people,

has 600 stores in city

centres and more than

800 outlets at airports,

train stations, hospitals

and motorway service

stations.

It also has in excess of

280 stores across 77 air-

ports worldwide, includ-

ing London Heathrow,

Copenhagen, Stockholm

and Doha.

WH Smith’s trading

update for the 11 weeks

to 18 May reported a

15% increase in group

sales, or 4% excluding its

InMotion international

travel fascia, with like-

for-like sales up 1%.

At the time WH Smith

said it was on target to

open about 20 units in

the UK including 10 hos-

pital stores.

Toal spent 12 years at the

Co-op before joining Wilko

my food & drink job

Alex Dickens

“The fmcg market

gives you a breadth of

unique experience”

Alex Dickens

Age: 25

Job title: Creative lead

Company & location: Grenade, West Midlands

Education: Coventry University – Graphic Design BA

Hons

Why did you decide to go for a career in food? The

food category is full of a variety of tastes and  a-

vours with masses of opportunity, and I was lucky

enough to ‘fall into’ the market.

Explain your job to us in a sentence (or two): My

job mainly involves developing and evolving the

Grenade brand, designing impactful packaging,

launching NPD and existing products with stand-

out, attention-grabbing designs and marketing

the brand to the masses. Anything visual, that’s

me and the team!

What does a typical day look like for you? Is there

ever a typical day at Grenade? One day I could be

working on the latest NPD’s signi cant artwork

and design, and the next I could be on a photo-

shoot with one of our many ambassadors.

Tell us about how you went about applying for

your job? At the time of my interview I was in my

third year of university. As a designer, the stand-

ard is to have your body of work prepared in a

portfolio to discuss. The interview was with the

founders of the company, Al and Jules.

What’s the best part about working for a food

company? As mentioned, every day is di erent –

and this in itself makes getting out of bed so easy.

Aside from the variety and fast-paced environ-

ment, I’m extremely passionate about the design

and packaging of the Grenade products.

And what’s the biggest misconception people

have about working in food & drink? Overall,

the majority of people are most shocked at the

amount of time spent developing the Grenade

products before they go to market.

What advice would you give to other young peo-

ple looking to get into the food & drink industry?

If you love a busy, competitive environment and

thrive on trying to stand out, the food and drink

industry is de nitely for you. The fmcg market is

so diverse with masses of variety, giving you a

breadth of unique experience like no other.

What’s your ultimate career dream? My current

goal is to make Grenade a household name. I’ve

seen it go from a small company to being listed in

all major supermarkets, and I want to carry on the

journey until everyone has heard of and tried a

Grenade product. A er Grenade... I’d like to start

my own journey with a brand of my own.

Debbie Robinson is due to

give a talk at the festival

Central England Co-op

is to join forces with the

Co-op Party at this year’s

Greenbelt Festival to

raise awareness around

food justice.

The retailer will back

the party’s campaign

to tackle the hunger

that exists in the UK by

encouraging festivalgo-

ers to sign a petition to

try to end the issue of

food poverty.

The three-day arts,

faith and justice event,

at which Russell

Brand, the Archbishop

of Canterbury Justin

Welby and singer Lucy

Central England Co-op  ghts

for food justice at Greenbelt

Spraggan are due to

appear, will host a spe-

cial speech forum known

as The Exchange.

Debbie Robinson,

Central England Co-op

chief executive, will talk

about what it means for

the retailer to have a

positive ethos and why it

is supporting the Co-op

Party’s campaign.

“We will be appeal-

ing to all festivalgoers

to back the petition by

the Co-op Party aim-

ing to enact change both

nationally and locally ,”

she said.

“My message to every-

one attending Greenbelt

is simple. Come and see

us at The Exchange, hear

some great talks by peo-

ple associated with our

fantastic Society and sign

the Co-op Party’s petition

to help us achieve food

justice.”