Ian Cheshire takes over as new BRC chairman

The British Retail Consortium’s new chairman, Ian Cheshire, takes over from current chairman Rob Templeman today, Monday October 1.

Cheshire is a leading figure in the retail industry, having been group chief executive of B&Q parent Kingfisher since January 2008 and an executive director since June 2000.

He has been a non-executive director of Whitbread since February 2011, and serves as a lead non-executive member at the Department for Work and Pensions. He is also a member of the Corporate Leaders’ Group on Climate Change and a member of the Business Disability Forum President’s Group. He will serve for two years in his new BRC role.

Rob Templeman will be staying on for a further year as deputy chairman. This is in order to provide continuity while the BRC welcomes its new chairman and new director general Helen Dickinson, who takes over that role in January.

British Retail Consortium director general Stephen Robertson said: “I’d like to thank Rob for his dedicated and valuable work on behalf of the BRC and the retail sector and to welcome Ian as his successor.

“Ian is an outstanding, serving chief executive with a rich understanding of retail and of the political process. I benefited from his inspirational leadership during my own years at Kingfisher and am very much looking forward to working with him as he becomes BRC Chairman.”

Ian Cheshire: “A rich understanding of retail”