Tata group’s public-listed retail company Trent Ltd, which operates retail chains like Star Bazaar and Westside, has reappointed Philip Auld as CEO for three more years, according to a disclosure filed on the BSE.
The reappointment will be effective from May 1, 2014. Auld, a retail industry veteran from the UK, had joined Trent as CEO in April 2011.
Auld worked with both M&S, as head of selling women’s wear, and a Netherlands-based female fashion retailer M&S Mode, which was part of the Maxeda Retail Group BV. At M&S Mode, he oversaw the operations of 400 stores in seven European countries in which it operated. Prior to join M&S Mode, Auld was head of clothing at Walmart-run supermarket Asda.
Recently, Noel Naval Tata, vice-chairman of Trent and managing director of Tata International, was named chairman of Trent.
Established in 1998 as part of the Tata Group, Trent presently operates Westside, a fast growing chain of retail stores. The company has 74 Westside departmental stores.
Trent ventured into the hypermarket business in 2004 with Star Bazaar. This store offers customers an array of products that include staple foods, beverages, health and beauty products, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, consumer electronics and household items. Star Bazaar also includes a large range of fashionable in-house garments for men, women and children. Trent also owns majority stake in Landmark, a books and music retail chain.
On March 21, UK-based retail giant Tesco Plc signed a pact with Trent to form an equal joint venture by picking up 50 per cent equity stake in hypermarket retail firm Trent Hypermarket Ltd (THL), which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Trent and operates under the Star Bazaar brand, for around Rs 850 crore ($140 million).
The foreign investment promotion board gave its approval to the proposal in December last year.
At present, THL operates 16 stores across the southern and western regions of India. The proposed partnership will operate and build on the existing portfolio of Star Bazaar stores in Maharashtra and Karnataka.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)