McColl's appoints industry veteran Robbie Bell as new CFO

Convenience retailer McColl's Retail Group has appointed industry veteran Robbie Bell as its new chief financial officer.

Bell will join the company from his current position as chief executive of motorway services operator Welcome Break Limited following its takeover by Applegreen and will take up his appointment on 17 January.

Bell was appointed CFO of Welcome Break in 2017 before taking on the role of CEO early last year. His time at Welcome Break has included managing the sale and ownership transition process, which has been achieved whilst delivering against financial targets.

Prior to that, and since 2009, he had been the CFO of Kingfisher subsidiary Screwfix Direct Limited, where he oversaw "significant" business growth, driven by strong like-for-like sales and an extensive store opening programme.

With over 20 years of retail experience, Robbie was the UK Finance Director of Travelodge from 2006-2008, and formerly held a number of senior finance positions at Tesco.

Chief executive Jonathan Miller said: "I am delighted to welcome someone of Robbie's calibre and expertise to the board. With such a wealth of senior experience in retail and finance, he will add significant strength to the team. I am confident Robbie will make a valuable contribution as we deliver our strategy to enhance our neighbourhood convenience offer."

At 0805 GMT, the shares were down 3.1% to 54.26p.