Executive Committee

James brings extensive senior leadership experience from the UK grocery and retail sector, with a strong track record in operational performance, customer proposition and digital transformation. Most recently, he served as Managing Director of Waitrose, where he led the business through a period of significant challenge, including the Covid 19 pandemic and subsequent inflationary pressures, delivering strong sales and profit performance.

He has deep experience of omni channel retail, having overseen the relaunch of Waitrose.com following the business’s transition away from the Ocado platform, alongside responsibility for large store estates, supply chains and colleague engagement. Earlier in his career, James held a number of senior roles over more than twenty years at J Sainsbury plc, including Grocery Buying Director, giving him strong commercial, buying and supplier facing expertise.

James’s experience aligns closely with the Group’s strategic priorities, particularly the continued improvement of the retail business, operational execution and customer experience across both physical and digital channels.

Sarah brings extensive financial leadership experience from highly competitive UK and international consumer sectors, with a strong track record in performance management, strategy and M&A, business transformation, risk and financial control. Most recently, she served as Chief Financial Officer of PZ Cussons plc, where she played a key role in navigating complex trading conditions and supporting the delivery of strategic and operational priorities.

Prior to this, Sarah was Finance Director at Birds Eye and subsequently Deputy Chief Financial Officer at their parent company Nomad Foods, providing her with significant experience of listed company reporting, investor engagement and international operations. Earlier in her career, she held senior finance leadership roles at Unilever, Tesco, PepsiCo and Diageo, building deep expertise across branded consumer goods, retail and global supply chains. Sarah qualified as an accountant with PwC in London.

Sarah’s experience supports the Board’s focus on growth, financial resilience, strong controls and disciplined capital allocation, and positions the Group well to continue delivering its omni channel, consumer centric strategy while creating sustainable value for shareholders and other stakeholders.

William joined the business in March 2019 as Chief Information Officer. Over his career William has been at the centre of driving change in technical platforms for many blue chip companies and was most recently CIO at United Utilities where he spent the last several years leading the technology, data and business change teams.

Anja joined the business in 2024 with extensive retail experience in both the UK and Denmark, having held prominent positions at Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and most recently serving as CEO of føtex, a premier supermarket chain in Denmark. Over the course of the last 15 years, Anja has successfully led across all parts of retail operations including commercial, strategy, transformation, supply chain and operational management. Prior to this, Anja was a marketing leader at Johnson & Johnson in Europe and the Middle East following four years as a strategy consultant across a range of industries. 

Richard Dening-Smitherman joined the business in 2024 as Managing Director of the Vet Group (Vets for Pets), where he leads the Vet business with the support of the Vet Leadership Team and the Practice Owner Joint Venture Council. With over 20 years of leadership experience, Richard has successfully managed international operations for global brands across the UK and the Middle East. He most recently served as Chief Operating Officer of Burger King UK and was previously Chief Executive Officer at Nando's in the Middle East, where he expanded franchise opportunities. Richard's diverse background includes roles in sectors such as the British Military, United Nations, Olympic Sport, Pharmaceutical, Retail, and Hospitality. He has worked with Private Equity, Privately Owned, Founder Led, Public, and Partnership organisations.