Name: Simon Calver
Was: Vice president international sales operations of PepsiCo
Now: CEO of Mothercare

Career background: Following a degree in computational science at the University of Hull, Calver joined Lever Brothers as a graduate trainee, before moving on for a three-year spell at Deloitte. In 1995, he became VP and general manager of PepsiCo in the UK and Ireland, handling marketing channel development, operations and finance activity. After three years, he was promoted to VP international sales operations, responsible for the development of PepsiCo’s international sales operations strategies. Calver left PepsiCo in 2000 to become general manager of computer giant Dell. His next post was COO and president of interactive digital education company Riverdeep, before landing the CEO role at Lovefilm in 2005.

What is he doing now? In April 2012, Calver left Lovefilm to become chief executive of high street babywear retailer Mothercare.

Biggest achievement in grocery? In his role as VP at PepsiCo, Calver successfully developed a new pricing, sales force management and channel strategy to improve the bottom line.

What’s next? Calver joined Mothercare at a turbulent time, with the company experiencing significant losses. His first move was to implement a three-year improvement plan, which included the closure of a number of Mothercare and Early Learning Centre stores. In Mothercare’s latest financial results, posted in November, it appeared as if the strategy was paying off, with losses of £600,000 in the six-month period to October, down from £4.4m for the same period in 2011. Although the retailer’s like-for-like sales continue to fall, the margin of the decline is half that of a year ago, with Mothercare reporting decent growth in some overseas markets.

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