Dixons Carphone drafts in top duo for digital revamp

Dixons Carphone has become the latest major retailer to bring in new digital and tech executives as it ramps up its transformation programme in an effort to turn round the business.

The company, which owns the Carphone Warehouse and Currys PC World brands, has drafted in Merlin Entertainments chief digital marketing and information officer Mark Allsop to the new role of chief digital officer, while Dyson chief information officer Andy Gamble joins the retailer as CIO.

Allsop started his career in IT at Volkswagen Group, then had spells at ecommerce consultancy Izodia and Universal Pictures before spending a decade at Sony Pictures Entertainment, ultimately as CIO for the EMEA region, in charge of over 60 offices and 3,000 staff. He has been at Merlin since April 2017.

Meanwhile, Gamble also spent most of his career at Sony, as CIO of its electronics business, in charge of over 550 staff globally. During his time at the company he embarked on a major transformation, cutting $100m of costs through overhauling the tech supporting the business within the US, Canada and Europe. He then spent three years as CIO of Essentra before joining Dyson in July 2017.

Both roles will report directly to Dixons Carphone chief executive Alex Baldock, who joined from Shop Direct last year. He said: “The world of retail is changing at an extraordinary pace. For us to deliver our vision, we must have a clear digital strategy for our future. We need our technology and digital capabilities to work harder for us and for our customers to create amazing experiences.

“Mark is a creative and innovative leader and joins us from a business that really knows how to create memorable, immersive experiences for its customers. He will bring additional digital experience and resource to our discussions and decisions at the most senior level.

“Andy has over 20 years’ experience at some of the world’s most innovative tech companies. His delivery of customer-centric end-to-end technology has been achieved with strong business partnerships and a focus on scalable, simplified and standardised platforms.”

The appointments are part the group’s strategy to rejuvenate its fortunes after pre-tax profits crashed 22% to £298m in the year to April 27, 2019. In July, Dixons Carphone appointed Proximity London to devise CRM strategies for its both its retail brands without a pitch. It is also working on a series of initiatives covering the key trading periods of Black Friday, Christmas and the January sales.

Proximity’s Omnicom sister agency AMV BBDO handles the ad account, with its current campaign featuring Peter Crouch (pictured); Ecrebo spearheads loyalty activity.