Beatrice Lafon

Beatrice Lafon is a NED/Chair, experienced in Financial & Operational Restructuring, CVA, and M&A, a Business Coach helping Founder led businesses scale up and an Ex Chief Executive with an outstanding record in the launch, rapid turnaround and profitable development of major Retail Businesses in the UK, Europe and the USA.
She brings 40 years of Pan European and US retail experience, underpinned by a tremendous record for achieving results, fast.
She holds a First-Class BA Hons in European Business Administration and a First Class Diplome D’Etudes Superieures Europeennes de Management (ESC Rheims). In 2013, Beatrice was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Middlesex University, London. In 2015, she was elected a Most Influential Woman in the Mid Cap market in the USA. In 2017, she was elected Influential Business Leader by The Venus Dorset Awards and won the National title in 2018. She is fluent in English and French.
She has extensive Executive experience in Buying & Merchandising, Strategy and Proposition Development, coupled with strong Operational and Leadership skills. She has worked for blue chip retailers such as Marks & Spencer, J Sainsbury's (where she launched the first DIY transactional website in the world in 2000), BSkyB (part of News Corp) and the Kingfisher Group, sizeable private businesses such as Pimkie, River Island, Tchibo and Animal and PE backed businesses such as Claire’s, TJHughes, and Kondor. Beatrice operated at CEO level for nearly 20 years across the UK, Europe and the USA, she is known for her “turn around “expertise. She led the sale of TJ Hughes in the UK, the repositioning and return to profitability of The Etam Group in The Netherlands, the recovery of Claire’s Stores Inc (USA), the recovery of Pimkie (France) and the repositioning and sale of Kondor (UK) to DCC Plc.

Since 2016 she has been building a plural career, initially joining SuperDry as NED. She was a NED for HappyChic (Jules, Brice, Bizzbee) based in France and for Oosterdam (Pimkie, Orsay, Grain De Malice, Rouge Gorge) based in The Netherlands, until her interim CEO appointment to help recover Pimkie. She remained a NED at Orsay Gmbh until its sale in 2022. In 2020, as Chair of TMLewin, a leading global menswear brand backed by Bain Capital, she led the business through CV19 and its sale as a going concern to SCP. She also joined the board of Pizza Express Group Plc, to help drive its Restructuring. She helped Solent Group x2.5 its ebitda in 3 years and Exit to The Humble Group in 2021.
She is currently Chair at Comptoir Group Plc, Chair at The Handbag Clinic, Chair at Wave Direct Ltd, Chair at Crosstown, NED at Pimberly (UK) and NED at Spartoo SA (France), the leading Footwear & Apparel Marketplace in Europe, selling over 20 pairs of shoes every second!
Her teams talk about her, as being a human CEO, connecting with all, inspirational and full of compassion. She is able to make the complex simple, and set the course to achieve results quickly. As a NED, Beatrice is valued for her international experience, her up to date knowledge of omnichannel retailing, her challenging & supportive style and authentic leadership. She engages with the management team to help drive results, fast.
Beatrice lives in Kent, UK with her son aged 15.