Management Team
Alex Russo
Chief Executive Officer
Alex Russo
Chief Executive Officer
Alex was appointed Chief Executive Officer in September 2022. He joined the B&M Group on 5 October 2020 and the Board as the Group’s Chief Financial Officer on 16 November 2020. Alex has had a long senior career in retail, having successfully held Executive Board positions in leading international retailers including Asda, Tesco plc, and Kingfisher plc. He served as Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President, at Walmart’s Asda business between 2014 and 2018. Prior to joining Asda, he was Tesco’s Chief Financial Officer of South Korea, its largest international subsidiary. Prior to that, he was Tesco’s Commercial Financial Director for its UK business. His broad retail career covers the UK, European and Asian markets. Alex has also been a Non-Executive Director in leading consumer goods businesses in the UK and internationally. Alex earned an MBA postgraduate degree with Distinction at the London Business School in 1999, following Engineering and Finance BSc degrees with a First.
Mike Schmidt
Chief Financial Officer
Mike Schmidt
Chief Financial Officer
Mike joined the Group as Chief Financial Officer in October 2022 and was appointed to the Board on 2 November 2022. Prior to joining B&M, Mike spent eight years at publicly listed home furniture retailer DFS, where he was appointed Group CFO in 2019. During his time at DFS, Mike has additionally held responsibility for property, strategic development, legal & compliance and financial services activities. Mike has a background in corporate finance, with 13 years experience of working for top tier investment banks including Citi and UBS. Mike holds an MA in Economics and Management from Cambridge University.
Bobby Arora
Group Trading Director
Bobby Arora
Group Trading Director
Bobby has been Trading Director of the Company since January 2005. Previously, Bobby co-founded Orient Sourcing Services and sat on the board of Lambert Howarth Group, the footwear and houseware company.
Gareth Bilton
UK Stores Director
Gareth Bilton
UK Stores Director
Gareth is a leader with over 35 years’ experience in retail.
Following managerial roles in Woolworths and Tesco plc, he joined B&M in 1998 as a Store Manager. Since then, Gareth has fulfilled roles as an Area Manager, Head of Central Operations and Regional Director roles across the UK before being appointed Retail Director in 2021 with direct responsibility for all B&M UK stores delivering operational excellence to meet customer expectations.
Leading a team of over 28 thousand colleagues, Gareth has been an integral part of the success of the B&M business, leading teams and developing extensive experience in sales, merchandising, logistics, customer service and operational excellence
James Kew
Director of Retail Operations
James Kew
Director of Retail Operations
James is an experienced leader with a successful track record in delivering exceptional standards in store operations. Before joining B&M in 2013, James held managerial roles in Poundland. At B&M, following successful roles as store manager and in central retail operations, James was appointed Head of Productivity and Change in April 2017. In his role, James successfully aligned strategy and commercial operational execution by implementing a number of innovative programs that helped B&M to lower its cost and increase productivity. In January 2023 James was appointed Head of Retail Operations and in March 2024 was appointed as a Director of B&M Retail Limited. James recently completed his executive education at London Business School.
Jon Parry
UK Supply Chain Director
Jon Parry
UK Supply Chain Director
Jon joined B&M in August 2022 as UK Supply Chain Director. Jon has over 15 years experience at Director level across Retail and Supply Chain in both Strategic and Operational roles. He has previously worked for Walmart Inc., Asda Stores Ltd and the convenience food chain Somerfield Stores Ltd.
Anthony Giron
France - Managing Director
Anthony Giron
France - Managing Director
Anthony joined the group in May 2020 as Managing Director for B&M in France. He has experience of developing retail brands in France and international expansion. He has held a number of senior executive positions in retail businesses in France including CEO of Selecta SA, CEO of Hema International and Trading Director of Vroom & Dressmann.
Tony Dobbs
Heron Foods - Managing Director
Tony Dobbs
Heron Foods - Managing Director
Tony joined Heron Foods in 1991. He was appointed as Director of Retail Operations in January 2013 and promoted to Managing Director of Heron Foods in December 2017. Tony previously held managerial roles at Gateway Food Markets and Dee Supermarkets.
Alex Simpson
General Counsel
Alex Simpson
General Counsel
Alex was appointed General Counsel for the B&M Group in August 2023. Prior to joining B&M, Alex was Associate General Counsel and Legal Director for Amazon UK, also serving as a director and board member of Amazon UK Services Limited and more than 20 other Amazon group companies. Prior to joining Amazon, Alex was General Counsel and Company Secretary at Asda-Walmart and also chaired the Asda Foundation, focussing on corporate philanthropy and major charitable projects across the UK. Alex also served two full terms, from 2018 – 2024, as the Senior Independent Director and NED of the Royal Chartered Institute of Directors. Alex attended Queen’s University Belfast and Trinity College Dublin before completing his legal studies at the College of Law.
Peter Waterhouse
Group Financial Controller
Peter Waterhouse
Group Financial Controller
Peter has been a key member of the B&M Finance team since joining in 2013 and was appointed as Group Financial Controller in 2020. He trained and qualified with PwC whilst winning three internal prizes, and has also worked for Johnson Service Group and Logica. Peter is a Fellow of the ICAEW and holds three degrees in Mathematics including a PhD (and published paper) achieved in 2008 whilst attending the University of Manchester.
Suzie Williams
Group I.T Director
Suzie Williams
Group I.T Director
Suzie joined B&M in January 2021 as Group IT Director. She has over 7 years experience at Director level in Retail IT, with a further 13 years of Retail IT management roles. She has previously worked for Pets at Home and Shop Direct Group (now the Very Group).