Halfords New CEO To Target Expansion in Eastern Europe

REDDITCH, UK – Bicycle and car parts retailer Halfords Group appointed David Wild, former head of Tesco’s central European operations as their new chief executive. He will take over from Ian McLeod on August 4. McLeod stepped down in February to become head of Australia’s Wesfarmers.

David Wild is currently Wal-Marts senior vice president for new business development. He had previously worked for Tesco as group supply chain director and chief executive of central Europe.

David Wild’s experience of running Tesco’s central European operations in the 1990s will be of great use to Halfords, which announced last month it was plotting expansion into eastern Europe. It has opened four stores in Poland and the Czech Republic and is also eyeing opportunities in Slovakia and Hungary.

Halfords likes these markets because of high levels of car ownership and the popularity of bikes and camping. Eastern Europeans tend to hang on to cars for longer than western Europeans, providing a strong market for maintenance products. Almost a third of its sales come from non-discretionary car parts such as air filters and wiper blades.

The appointment of David Wild is regarded an excellent move from Halfords. The change in CEO offers a significant opportunity. Halfords can move from being defensive and relatively cheap against the sector, to defensive with strong and attractive, sustainable, long term earnings growth.