John Lovering joins Itim as Chairman

Itim the retail technology and services business has appointed

John Lovering as Chairman. John has had a distinguished career in retailing, having been chairman of a number of prominent retailers such as Homebase, Debenhams, Somerfield, Birthdays, Odeon Cinemas, Mitchells and Butler and currently Maplin. John has been a key contributor to the development of private equity’s participation in Retail.

Itim is a fast growing software & services business helping with the transformation of retailers into the multi-channel world. It provides a series of specialist software applications, which are key to multi-channel enablement, including a Single Sales application, Product Information Management, Order Routing & Management, Pricing & Promotions, real-time Stock Management, Invoice Matching and Supplier Integration. Its flagship product Retail Suite is one of the first generations of cloud based multi-channel retail platforms, in the industry.

Ali Athar, CEO of Itim said; ‘John joining as Chairman of Itim is a huge vote of confidence in our business, it reflects how far we have come from our launch in 2000’. With over 65 retail customers using Itim’s technology solutions including Home Retail Group, Sainsbury’s, the John Lewis Partnership, Debenhams and The Entertainer, amongst many in the UK and Eroski, Caprabo, Makro, and Angeloni in Iberia and Brazil, Itim is poised for growth.

Since the acquisitions of many of Itim’s competitors by US based companies, Itim is one of the few independent UK software companies operating in the retail sector.

John Lovering said ‘I have known Ali for many years and have been very impressed by what Itim have achieved in a very short period of time’. Itim’s passion for retailing, their industry knowledge, the quality of their people and their impressive customer base attracted me to the business. They have a number of innovative technology solutions which are critical to modern retailing. I am proud to join Itim, to help them in their growth’.