News roundup--Dixons chief moves to Apple, PetPlanet expands, more

Dixons’ chief executive John Browett is quitting to join Apple as senior vice president of retail. He will be based at Apple’s headquarters in California. Browett has been chief executive of UK-based Dixons since 2007, he steps down from the board on 20th February leaves the company on 20th April, following a handover period. Sebastian James, currently group operations director, will succeed Browett as group chief executive. Katie Bickerstaffe is appointed to the new role of chief executive, UK and Ireland.

Online pet supplies retailer PetPlanet.co.uk is investing in new facilities and strengthening its senior team as it surpasses £10 million in annual turnover. Kevin Hague, managing director of PetPlanet’s parent M8 Group Ltd, says the business has come a long way in a very short time, “Petplanet.co.uk is now a £10 million-plus retail brand in its own right and continues to grow at over 30 percent year-on-year. Only four years ago Petplanet.co.uk had a turnover of less than £2 million.” The company is now investing in additional infrastructure and personnel to see it through its next stage of growth. Martin McGreskin, formerly Amazon.co.uk’s inbound and outbound operations manager, joins at director of operations. His appointment comes as M8 secured a new 26,500 square-foot premises in Livingston, which in addition to becoming PetPlanet’s warehouse, will also serve as the new headquarters for M8 Group’s commercial operations.

In the year ended 27th November, gross sales at online grocer Ocado increased 16.6 percent to £642.8 million. EBITDA was also up, from £22 million to £27.9 million and the company delivered an operating profit of £1.1 million, compared with a £5.4 million loss in 2010. As “customer demand during the year continued to exceed Ocado's operational capacity”, the company saw the percentage of “items delivered exactly as ordered” and “deliveries on time or early” dip compared to last year. Its making further investment in its Hatfield distribution centre to meet demand.

Office, the Silverfleet Capital-backed shoe retailer, reports a 26 percent growth in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to 31st December. It has also announced the appointment of Allan Leighton, a former chief executive of Asda, ex-chairman of Royal Mail and former finance director and managing director of young fashion brand Jane Norman.

Light at the end of the tunnel? Consumer confidence was up in January, writes the Telegraph.