Senior execs depart GAME in company restructure

GAME has bid farewell to some of its most popular execs as it rebuilds for the future.

Tricia Brennan (Chief Commercial Officer), Simon Soffe (Communications Director), Alex Vines (Head of Business Development and Insight), Robert Quinn (Operations Director) and Situl Thakrar (E-commerce Director) are all to leave the retail giant over the next five weeks.

As a result, Charlotte Knight (Trading Director), Lisa Dobrin (Supply Chain Director) and Anna-Marie Mason (Marketing Director) will report direct to CEO Martyn Gibbs.

The restructuring process should not come as a surprise as the retailer lost 277 stores as a result of its administration last month. Dominic Lavelle is the interim Chief Restructuring Officer dealing with the project, while Neil Robson has taken the role of interim Chief Financial Officer. The firm is on the hunt for a permanent CFO.

Dave Howard (one of GAME’s divisional managers) will now take responsibility for the firm’s central and field operations across the UK, while the online team will report to IT director Andy Grainger.

Here is the full statement from GAME retail CEO Martyn Gibbs:

We’ve made rapid progress in our first month, thanks to the support of our industry partners and the immense efforts of our teams across the UK. As we now look further forward, we’ve made some important changes to our senior team to reflect the ongoing evolution of our business.

"To direct our restructuring projects and to ensure that we have the strongest possible finance function, I’ve asked Dominic Lavelle to take responsibility for all of our restructuring activity as interim Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO), and have appointed Neil Robson as interim CFO to lead our finance function. While Neil and Dominic focus on our immediate opportunities, we are also actively recruiting a full time CFO for the long term.

"Reorganising the leadership team to match the size and shape of our new business means that we will also be bidding farewell to some friends – and Tricia Brennan (Chief Commercial Officer), Robert Quinn (Operations Director), Alex Vines (Head of Business Development and Insight), Simon Soffe (Group Communications Director) and Situl Thakrar (E-commerce Director) have all agreed that it is the right time to move on. Each of these colleagues has made an immense contribution to this business and to our whole industry over the last decade, and I particularly want to thank them for their support over the last few months. They will leave the business during the next five weeks, after a managed transition. We wish them all every success in the future.

"As a result of these changes, Charlotte Knight (Trading Director), Lisa Dobrin (Supply Chain Director), and Anna-Marie Mason (Marketing Director) will all now report direct to me as they continue to lead rapid progress in their departments. I’ve also asked Dave Howard (one of our Divisional General Managers) to take responsibility for our field and central Operations team across the UK on an interim basis; and the E-commerce team will report to Andy Grainger (IT Director). All of these members of the team are highly respected for their years of specialist experience and knowledge of our industry, and I am excited by the ideas and passion that they are contributing to our future.”