Peter Pritchard, the former non-food trading director of Asda, has been appointed trading director for petcare retailer Pets At Home.

Pritchard will join Pets at Home in January 2011 from Wilkinson where he was head of buying for 16 months.

He held a number of roles during his 12 years at Asda, including store development director, fresh foods trading director and business unit director, and also played a key role in the launch of Asda’s George standalone stores and Living and Essentials formats. He has also worked for Iceland, Sainsbury’s and Marks & Spencer.

Frankie Adams, also a former Asda man, and category buying manager for fmcg at Wilkinson, will take on the role of acting head of buying until Pritchard is replaced. He joined Wilkinson from Asda in September last year.

“We are very sorry to be losing Peter, who has had a major impact on our buying department but we wish him all the very best in his new venture,” said Wilkinson CEO Stuart Mitchell. “Over the next few months we will be conducting a thorough internal and external recruitment process to identify our new head of buying.”

Pritchard’s arrival at Wilkinson last year was seen as a further move by the variety discount retailer to expand its grocery offer. Mitchell is a former managing director of Sainsbury’s and the retailer has been steadily increasing its grocery section since his appointment in 2006.

Matt Davies, CEO of Pets at Home, said: “Peter is not only a first-class retailer but a committed pet owner.”

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