Darren Shapland

A veteran of the consumer retail sector, Darren advises the team on specialist areas such as organisational design, financial structuring and back-office operations, as well as providing expertise in ecommerce and team-building.

Darren is Chairman of Topps Tiles Plc (FTSE Small Cap), Moo Print, Aerofoil Energy Limited, and CMG. He was Chairman of NotOnTheHighStreet, when the business was sold to Great Hill Partners in Boston. He also Chaired Poundland, which he helped IPO, before its subsequent trade sale.

Other past roles include the Non-Executive Directorship (and Audit Chair) of Ferguson Plc, Ladbrokes Plc, and Chairman of Sainsburys Bank (JV - Sainsburys/Lloyds).

Darren originally trained as an Accountant at the Burton Group, where he later became Managing Director of the Home Shopping / ecommerce business, having previously been CFO of Top Shop / Top Man. He joined Superdrug Plc (part of Kingfisher) as CFO, followed by Carpetright Plc before completing his CFO career at Sainsbury’s, as part of the turnaround team in the mid 2000s. Darren was then appointed Group Development Director of Sainsburys, before finishing his executive career as CEO of Carpetright.