Rod Salmon joins Pick n Pay as retail specialist

Pick n Pay chair, Gareth Ackerman said, "With his wealth of retail, and in particular, general merchandise experience, he will be a great asset to the group. We are confident that his experience brings a set of skills that are hard to find in the retail environment."

Salmon has been working for the Numis Group in the UK, an investment and institutional stock broking firm. He held the position of retail research director, leading the consumer team in growing its market share in corporate finance, trading and overseeing market research, with a strong focus on e-commerce.

A Zimbabwean by birth, he has a range of experience at operational level, the last of which was as commercial director within the Massmart Group, where he was instrumental in developing and implementing strategy for international development for the group. He left Massmart to join Deutsche Securities where he was responsible for equity strategy.

He gained other retail analyst experience at Charterhouse and Kleinwort Benson in the UK and at Cazenove and Merrill Lynch in South Africa where he was rated the number one retail analyst in South Africa by Financial Mail and number one in emerging markets by Reuters.

Salmon will report into the head of merchandising, Helmut Hoerz and Peter Arnold, head of food merchandising.

"He wanted to return to the coalface of the retail industry, so he left Deutsche Securities to start his own business (Blackridge Housewares) where he designed, sourced and supplied homeware products to retailers in South Africa, the UK and Europe. The company had offices in South Africa, Hong Kong and China, and was later sold to a larger multi-national.

"We are delighted that he is joining the group and know with his diverse and senior background in retail and analytics, he will give us an even stronger competitive edge in the market," said Arnold.