About this partner, Darren.
Senior Board-level commercial leader with 20+ years' success in driving profitable growth across E-commerce, Retail, and Wholesale for founder-led, private equity, and PLC businesses. Proven track record of delivering double-digit revenue growth, leading high-performing teams, integrating acquisitions, and driving digital and customer-first transformation across premium lifestyle, fashion, and building materials sectors. Highly strategic, financially astute, and passionate about building winning cultures and customer-centric operations.
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Key achievements and specialist areas detailed below
Board-Level Commercial & Strategic Leadership
Proven ability to operate at the highest levels, reporting to CEOs, Founders, and Private Equity investors to drive multi channel growth.
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Managed full accountability for gross sales exceeding £70m and maintained strict P&L responsibility for high value budgets
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Successfully integrated three acquired businesses into the CMO platform, realizing immediate group synergies while protecting brand equity.
Profitable Retail Turnarounds & LFL Growth
Taking established or struggling territories and delivering record breaking financial results.
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Replaced a -2% sales trend with +18% LFL growth within two years for Levi’s, Timberland, and Caterpillar franchises.
Delivered three successive years of record profit at GANT, including a peak growth year of +153%
Cultivating High-Performance Cultures (Team Engagement)
A leadership style that focuses on employee wellbeing and structured development, resulting in industry leading engagement.
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Achieved a company high, leadership engagement score of 85% at GANT.
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Embedded a 6 module L&D program (GANT Academy) and successfully promoted store managers to regional roles through active succession planning.
High-Growth E-commerce & Omnichannel Trading
Consistent delivery of significant digital growth by optimising site performance and marketing execution.
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Achieved a market leading conversion rate of 2.9% following the migration to a new platform.
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Delivered LFL online sales growth of +88% and +60% in consecutive years at a menswear fashion brand through improved commercial and operational practices
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Strategic Business Transformation & Integration
Expertise in restructuring business models to improve efficiency and market reach.
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Led a strategic transition of House of Fraser concessions to a Wholesale Model, expanding the footprint from 28 to 51 locations and adding £0.5m in profit.
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Consolidated five consumer websites into three core platforms to streamline operations and improve the customer journey.
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Customer Experience (CX) & Brand Innovation
Use of data and customer insights to innovate the purchasing journey across different sectors
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At PGL Travel Group, the overhaul of the uniform and family focused CX strategy drove a +112% increase in bar revenues and +33% in retail sales.
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Deliver CX improvements in collaboration with front and back end developers to deliver increased market share and an online conversions rate
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What Our Clients Say
Retail, Ecommerce and Trading Director - Fashion, Lifestyle & Building Materials.
I worked with Darren on a number of brands under CMO, and it was always such a pleasure. He always made sure to include everyone's skills and knowledge, regardless of their seniority and always showed gratitude for your work - which feels like such a rarity now. He takes the time to think strategy through and communicate it clearly, making sure everyone is aligned on the project and goals.
One of my favourite ever colleagues, let alone Directors, that I've worked with.
A genuine class act.
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