Blakemore has appointed CJ Antal Smith as its new Chief Commercial Officer, and she will now be leading the commercial and marketing teams of the Spar wholesaler.
CJ joins from Poundland & Dealz, where she has been leading the commercial, marketing and digital functions. She also held senior commercial roles at Co-op, Halfords, Nando’s and Asda.
In June Blakemore launched Trade Partners Plus – a £4.5m investment package delivering lower prices, up to 8% rebates and tailored support to help retailers.
Read more: Blakemore launches rebate scheme for retailers
Carol Welch, Chief Executive Officer at AF Blakemore, said:“CJ’s track record in commercial leadership, as well as her deep understanding of the customer in the convenience retail space makes her a powerful addition to our business. By bringing the Marketing and Commercial teams together under her leadership we will strengthen our customer-led strategy, as well as building stronger partnerships across shoppers, retailers, suppliers and other stakeholders, resulting in a further acceleration in our growth.’
Smith added: “It’s a very exciting time to be joining AF Blakemore as it embeds its exciting customer led strategy across the business, with new retail partnerships opening up new routes to market. Convenience is changing fast – people are shopping little and often, and community, value and choice matter more than ever. That’s exactly where AF Blakemore is making a real difference, and I can’t wait to get started and work with the team to build on this momentum.”
