Very Group Christmas sales grow, appoints new chair

The Very Group which operates digital retailer Very.co.uk reported retail sales growth of 21.9 percent with double-digit growth across all four key product categories. Electrical sales rose 28.2 percent, home, 24.5 percent, fashion & sports were up 17.7 percent and developing categories grew 12.2 percent.

The group has also announced the appointment of Dirk Van den Berghe as non-executive chair.

Very retail sales declined 2.6 percent compared with the 2020 Christmas period, when the country was impacted by lockdowns. Overall group revenue, including Very Finance income, grew 11.5 percent and declined 3.3 percent compared with the 2020 Christmas period.

Very Group appoints new chairman

The company has appointed former Walmart executive vice president and regional chief executive for Asia and global sourcing, Dirk Van den Berghe, as non-executive chair.

In his most recent executive roles with Walmart, which he joined in 2014, Van den Berghe was responsible for Walmart’s business in Canada, China, India and Japan. He also oversaw Walmart global sourcing, a fully integrated supply chain that supports all Walmart’s divisions in the United States and international markets.

Prior to joining Walmart, he held a range of senior roles in Asia and Europe at global retail business Ahold-Delhaize (then Belgium-headquartered Delhaize Group), including CEO of Delhaize-LeLion in Belgium, France and Luxemburg between 2011 and 2014, and a position on the group’s global executive committee. He is currently a non-executive director at Colruyt Group, a leading Belgium-based and Western Europe-focused retail and energy group. He has previously held board roles at JD.com and Flipkart Group.

Commenting on Dirk Van den Berghe’s appointment, Henry Birch, group CEO at The Very Group, commented: “We are delighted to have someone of Dirk’s calibre and experience join our company as chair. Dirk has successfully transformed and grown some of the very best companies in ecommerce, marketplaces and payments, and we believe he will make a material difference in helping us achieve our growth aspirations.”