Pepco Group names MD Trevor Masters as COO

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Oct 11, 2021

UK-based Pepco Group is on a fast track to expansion and the pan-European discount retailer has a new chief operating officer to speed up the process.

Trevor Masters is being promoted on 1 January. He moves up from his post of managing director of the group’s clothing and lifestyle retail brand Pepco to also take on wider responsibilities of its discount brands Dealz in Europe and Poundland in the UK.

Since Masters joined as MD of Pepco in November 2019, the group noted he has spearheaded the strong expansion of the value brand from about 1,800 stores in 11 countries to more than 2,300 in 15, following its entry into Italy, Serbia, Spain and, most recently, Austria.

He will now also provide strategic direction and oversight to the group’s Poundland and Dealz brands, and its vertically integrated sourcing operation, PGS. He will continue to be based in Poland and retain his current leadership responsibilities for Pepco, the group noted.

“The organisational change and simpler operating model will enable the group to accelerate its growth plans and facilitate greater efficiencies across Pepco, Poundland, Dealz and PGS”, the company said.

Although Masters is based in Poland, where the firm is also listed on the stock exchange, Pepco has strong links with the UK supermarkets sector. Before joining Pepco Group, Masters spent more than 30 years at Tesco, including CEO of Tesco International.

Group CEO Andy Bond, meanwhile, was formerly CEO of Asda and before taking up that role ran the George fashion operation for the supermarket chain.

Bond said: “As we look to the many strategic opportunities ahead, I am confident the organisational changes we have announced today will provide a strong leadership platform for the next chapter in our growth story.

“Trevor has done a fantastic job since he joined. He has not only overseen Pepco’s continued expansion, including into new markets in western Europe, but he has also helped to ensure the brand emerged stronger from the pandemic”.

Masters added: “With a broader role, I look forward to working with the teams on growing our businesses, as part of our ambition to become Europe’s pre-eminent variety discount retailer.”