Last week Ian Chant, who has been head of food for Holland & Barrett (H&B) since May 2018, took to LinkedIn to make the following statement announcing his departure from the chain retailer:
“I think that Holland & Barrett are a great brand with passionate store teams. I have enjoyed working for them, which came to an abrupt end late on Friday afternoon.
“I shall look back fondly at some of my achievements including stabilizing and re-building a team, developing some brilliant colleagues, improving how we work with suppliers and being more collaborative rather that dictatorial and launching NPD including a food-to-go initiative.
“However, that is in the past and now it’s time to think about the future. Thanks for all support from colleagues and suppliers along the way. Good luck to the team I leave behind.”
I have enjoyed working for them, which came to an abrupt end late on Friday afternoon
A spokesperson from H&B issued the following response to NPN: “With a new board and management team in place, the strategy has been refined to better position the business for future growth. As part of this work we have reviewed how we best structure the organization to deliver our unique health, wellness and beauty proposition to our customers.
“We are very appreciative of the work Ian has delivered for H&B, and wish him well in his future endeavours,” the statement concluded.
The news comes after Peter Aldis stepped down as H&B’s CEO in March this year, and following claims one month later that the retailer operates a ‘purposeful culture of poor payment practices’.
H&B is yet to announce who will replace Chant in the role of head of food.
