Poundland owner Pepco brings in Vision Express boss as new chief amid ‘challenging’ environment

Pepco Group, the owner of the Poundland brand in the UK, has appointed a new chief executive and warned the current trading environment remains “challenging”.

On Thursday, the discounter said Stephan Borchert would be tasked with leading the business which has over 4,000 stores across Europe and the UK. 

Borchert was most recently the boss of Vision Express owner GrandVision until 2022,and also previously president of Sephora’s European business.

He will step into the role at the start of July and will be based in London. 

The new boss said: “I’m honoured to be the next chief executive of Pepco Group – which has the opportunity to become Europe’s leading variety discount retailer. 

“Pepco Group is a powerhouse retail business with a strong reputation for delivering incredible range, value and convenience for customers.”

“I am delighted to work alongside the leadership team to deliver on the group’s strategic priorities as Pepco Group enters the next phase of its growth journey.”

Pepco also said that like-for-like revenues dipped by 2.9 per cent  over the three-months to the end of March. 

However, total revenues were up 11.7 per cent on a constant currency basis to €1.35bn (£1.16bn), boosted by store openings.

Andy Bond, executive chairman of Pepco Group, described trading conditions as “challenging.”

He said: “While the trading environment remains challenging, we are encouraged by signs of an improved performance in some of our core Pepco Central and Eastern Europe markets – a key geographical region for the group – during the second quarter.

“We continued to make good progress against our renewed strategy in H1, growing revenue by 11 per cent  to €3.200m and driving a positive trajectory in gross margin.”

“We expect a continued upward trajectory in like-for-like sales at Pepco in H2.”