Management

Stephan is an accomplished CEO with a strong track record of leading international companies across various sectors including fashion, beauty, pharmacy and healthcare services. His extensive experience in leading complex, multi-brand retail businesses globally and in EMEA made him the stand-out candidate in the search process.

Stephan served from 2018 to 2022 as CEO of GrandVision, the global leader in optical retail operating more than 7,400 stores in more than 40 countries worldwide under more than 33 different retail banners. He led GrandVision – owner of the Vision Express and Apollo Optik chains in Europe – until it was acquired by EssilorLuxottica in July 2022, delivering significant value for shareholders.

Prior to GrandVision, Stephan was President of Sephora EMEA on the Global Executive Committee, where he again improved profitability and increased revenue, while accelerating the beauty and cosmetics retailer’s omni-channel development. He is currently holding non-executive director roles at two major pan-European retail companies in the sector of beauty and apparel.

Willem Eelman joined Pepco Group as CFO in February 2025. He is a highly experienced European CFO with significant retailing experience across the continent, having started his career with Unilever, where he become CFO for Europe. In 2014 he joined C&A as CFO and Chief Transformation Officer, before taking on the role of CFO at GrandVision. Willem and I worked very closely there and he was a key member of the team delivering a transformation at pace.

Jorge joined Pepco Group as COO for Western Europe in October 2024. In his current role, he is responsible for leading operations in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and Germany. He is a transformational retail specialist with international expertise in building and growing businesses in Europe, the USA, and Latin America.
Throughout his career, he has successfully held C-level positions at companies such as Douglas, Essilor Luxottica, and GrandVision. Jorge has demonstrated strong leadership and strategic vision in international expansion, turnarounds, and operational efficiency, contributing to significant business growth and profitability.

Viola joins us from Aldi Nord in Germany, which she joined in 2019. Her most recent role was as Managing Director – People & Culture International, where she successfully built up a new HR organisation. Viola has a successful track record and over two decades of senior HR experience. In her previous roles, she was Head of HR with Veolia in Germany for over six years and then spent more than eight years as CHRO with Aon.

Mark Elliott took up his current role as Chief Strategy & Transformation Officer in November 2023 having re-joined Pepco Group after a brief sabbatical. Prior to that he held a number of senior leadership roles over an 11-year period, including Managing Director of the Dealz business in Spain and Business Development Director for the Group looking after strategy, M&A, projects, and management of the corporate office. Before Pepco Group, Mark worked for Nectar – the customer loyalty programme of J Sainsbury Plc in the UK – and started his career at Bain & Company.

Marcin joined the Group in 2007 as Pepco Buying Director before becoming Managing Director of Dealz CEE in 2017. Marcin is responsible for launching and expanding Dealz in CEE. He has over 23 years’ experience in various retail functions, including store operations and buying and merchandising, having held the positions of Buying Director at Auchan and Store Director at Dixons prior to joining the Group.

Barry joined Poundland in 2016 as Trading Director and was promoted to Managing Director of Poundland in 2017. He has over 30 years’ experience within the retail sector, 20 of which were in the discount sector, having spent his early career at Kwik Save and having served most recently as Trading Director and then Marketing Director at Asda. Between these periods, he gained experience in partnership models with the Co-Operative Movement and in wholesale with Musgrave Retail Partners.

Pablo joins us from Avolta, the Swiss-based global travel retailer, with 5,500 outlets in over 75 countries, employing 36,000 people.  During his 14 years with Avolta, Pablo held senior leadership positions in Supply Chain, Retail Operations, Strategy and Business Development. For the past seven years, Pablo was Global CIO, responsible for defining and executing Avolta’s IT strategy to drive digital and technological transformation.

Ned Staple joined Pepco as Group General Counsel & Company Secretary in September 2023. He worked previously at NYSE listed online car retailer Cazoo and LSE listed property portal and data business ZPG Plc (formerly Zoopla). He led the legal and compliance functions of both businesses through their IPOs. He started his career in private practice in the corporate team of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, working on securities transactions, joint ventures and M&A across multiple sectors.