Combined Independents (Holdings) Ltd (CIH), part of Euronics, Europe’s largest electrical buying organisation, has announced that Guy Kinnell will be joining the company as Deputy CEO on 28 September 2020. Guy will work closely with retiring CEO, Stuart Cook, as he moves from Deputy CEO to CEO over the coming year, ensuring a smooth operational transition and minimal disruption for the business.
Guy joins CIH from Samsung Electronics where he was Vice President of the TVAV division for the UK and Ireland. Prior to working within the consumer electronics industry, he operated in both regional and global commercial and marketing roles in the recorded music industry. Guy has also led a nascent start-up and earned an MBA from the London Business School.
“This appointment is a perfect match for CIH and its members,” says CIH Chairman, Steve Scogings. “Guy has extensive global, European, and country level leadership experience, covering sales, product development and marketing roles within a variety of fast-moving consumer-goods categories. During his tenure with Samsung, he has been responsible for the delivery of significant commercial, market leadership, category development and brand awareness goals. This has included retail and direct to consumer transformation initiatives not only in the UK but also in Europe and North America. He’s an impressive and determined character and we’re looking forward to the industry experience, the business know-how and the relationship-building skills that he can bring to CIH as we grow and move forward into the future.”
“I’m honoured to be in a position to support the future growth and transformation of such a diverse and quality membership,” adds Guy. “With quality leadership emanating from the Board, kind ongoing support and insight from Stuart and strong recent trading performances, we have so much to be proud of, and to be inspired by, within the CIH family. We want to accomplish more together and I look forward to bringing our goals to fruition in collaboration with our amazing members, the dynamic CIH team, and the Euronics community. To our inspiring brands and partners, I invite you to continue working with us to help take our unique retail experience to even greater heights for our UK technology consumers. Let’s build an even more positive future together, lead in shaping how we tell our story to our customers, and support our communities in good times and in times of challenge.”
Stuart Cook will be scaling down to three days per week from September this year, with the aim of taking full retirement in September 2021. Guy will report to Stuart Cook during this interim period, working alongside him in a seamless changeover period. Day-to-day operations for suppliers and members will remain unaffected.
