GO Outdoors announces new CEO

Chris Matthews will join GO Outdoors in May from Dixons Retail plc where he is currently the managing director of Greece’s leading electrical retailer Kotsovolos, with 103 stores and a market-leading multi-channel offer.

Over a 10 year career with Dixons Chris has held a broad range of leadership positions across general management, commercial, e-commerce and marketing roles.

Prior to Dixons, Chris held leadership roles in various clothing sectors in Marks and Spencer PLC.

Commenting on the appointment Chris Matthews said,

“I have got to know the GO business over the last 6 months and love its passion for both products and service. I am really excited about joining the strong management team and helping to deliver the next chapter in GO’s exciting story”

As announced in October; John Graham, founder and current CEO, will be focusing his considerable energy and experience on helping to provide GO Outdoors’ customers with ranges of great products from great brands.

GO Outdoors CEO John Graham said,

“We knew that we wanted a CEO who was a talented retailer, but even more importantly we wanted someone who understood GO. Chris is that person.”

GO Outdoors chairman Colin Holmes said,

“GO Outdoors has a really strong management team who have achieved a tremendous amount in the last year. I am confident that Chris will be a great addition to the board, and will help create an even better business for customers, staff and suppliers.”

Chris is the latest new member of the management team at the UK’s largest outdoor retailer. Last year the company appointed Dan Quinn from Tesco as commercial director, Jon Asbury from Halfords as GO Outdoors’ first multi-channel director, Chris Morgan from Focus as chief finance officer and Jeff Fagan as retail director from Mothercare. The board also appointed David Cox, a former Chairman of Wiggle, as non-executive director.

GO Outdoors has just reached a £200 million annual turnover milestone for the first time in its history, following on from recent annual figures which showed an increase in turnover of over 24.6 %. The same financial period saw the number of GO Outdoors employees double from under 700 to over 1400. And in March this year, GO Outdoors will open its 42nd store in Milton Keynes.

The search for GO Outdoors new CEO was led by Maria Henderson of The MBS Group.

Notes for Editors

GO Outdoors is the UK’s leading retailer of outdoor equipment and clothing covering a range of activities including camping, walking, climbing, riding, fishing, skiing, running and cycling. The business has seen strong growth since the first store opened in Sheffield and now operates from 41 stores in the UK.