Veteran retailer joins motor group to accelerate digital journey

Pendragon has appointed veteran retailer Ian Filby as its non-executive chairman.

He will join on November 1, allowing chief executive Bill Berman to relinquish his interim role as executive chairman, which he has performed for two years.

Berman said: “We are delighted to have a new chairman with such an extensive grounding in the retail sector and, most importantly, in digital retail.”

Filby spent most of his career with Boots and was previously chief executive of DFS, while he is also the non-executive chairman of Joules.

Filby said: “I believe that my extensive retail experience will be of significant benefit to the company and the board as I work with the leadership team to lead Pendragon through the next stage of its development”.

Last month the Nottingham-headquartered car retailer reported its half-year revenues were up nearly 50% to £1.8bn, while it had reversed a loss-making performance to record pre-tax profits of £35.1m.

It attributed the upswing to “significant improvements” in its online proposition, as a well as a restructuring programme which has cut costs.