Booker's group operations director Satherley to step down

Booker’s group operations director, Bryn Satherley, will stepp down from the board and retire with effect from 1 April next year.

Guy Farant, managing director of Booker Wholesale, will become chief operating officer and Satherley’s responsibilities will be split among the other members of the executive team.

Also on Thursday, Booker announced the appointment of Gary Hughes as a non-executive director with immediate effect. He will join the audit and remuneration committees on appointment.

Hughes is a senior member of the Operational Excellence team at global private equity firm Apax Partners, where he also sits on the boards of two portfolio companies, Smart Technologies Inc and BMI Healthcare Limited.

Andrew Cripps, who has been a non-executive director since November 2007 and chairs Booker's audit committee, will stand down from the board at the end of 2016. At that time, Hughes will become chairman of the audit committee.

At 0820 GMT, Booker shares were up 0.3% to 183.50p.