13 October 2021

Halfords Group plc

Directorate Change - Chief Financial Officer

The Board of Halfords Group plc ("Halfords" or the "Group"), the UK's leading provider of Motoring and Cycling products and services, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jo Hartley as Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer. Jo will join the business in mid-April 2022, replacing Loraine Woodhouse, who has announced her intention to retire from a full-time plc role. In order to ensure a smooth transition, Loraine will remain with the business and in post until the FY22 Preliminary Results in June 2022, at which point she will step down from her role and pass her responsibilities to Jo. 

Jo Hartley joins Halfords from Virgin Active, where she has been Group CFO since 2015. Jo began her career at Deloitte UK, before moving to Tesco in 1999. At Tesco, Jo performed a number of roles, including Finance Director for convenience stores, operations and then property for Tesco UK, before spending time as CFO of Tesco Poland and latterly leading the finance function for Tesco UK as Interim Finance Director.

Keith Williams, Chairman of Halfords, commented:

"On behalf of the Board, I am delighted to be welcoming someone of Jo's calibre to Halfords. Her experience and expertise will be invaluable as we look to build on the strong momentum within the business, while also navigating our way through the current challenges and uncertainties of the wider trading environment. I would also like to express the Board's thanks to Loraine for her commitment, professionalism and dedication to Halfords during her time at the Group; I'm sure she will do well as she pursues a non-executive career."

Jo Hartley, incoming CFO, commented:

"Halfords is a great business with a strong brand proposition and I am excited about the prospect of helping the Group achieve its ambitious plans in the strategically important areas of motoring services, digital and B2B. I am looking forward to getting started and to working with the team on the many initiatives that are currently underway across the business."

Loraine Woodhouse, outgoing CFO, commented:

"I have very much enjoyed my time as Halfords' CFO but, after much deliberation, have decided that the time is right for me to step down from a full-time plc role, allowing me to pursue non-executive opportunities whilst also spending more time with family. I wish Jo all the very best as my successor and am pleased to be leaving Halfords in a strong position from which to execute its service-led growth strategy."

Halfords Group plc will publish its Interim Results for the 26 weeks to 1 October on Wednesday 10 November 2021.

Enquiries

Investors & Analysts (Halfords) 

Loraine Woodhouse, Chief Financial Officer  

Neil Ferris, Corporate Finance Director  

Andy Lynch, Head of Investor Relations +44 (0) 7483 457 415                                                   

Media (Powerscourt) +44 (0) 20 7250 1446

Rob Greening 

Nick Hayns

Harold Amoo

Regulatory disclosures

In accordance with Rule 9.6.13R of the Listing Rules of the UK Financial Conduct Authority, Halfords confirms the following information in respect of Jo Hartley, who will become a director of the Company in June 2022.

In accordance with 9.6.13 (3), Ms Hartley was a director of a Virgin Active Holdings Limited ("Virgin Active") and two of its subsidiaries, on 12th May 2021, when Restructuring Plans with certain of their creditors were sanctioned. Restructuring plans were introduced into Part 26A of the Companies Act 2066 in June 2020 by the Corporate Insolvency and Governance Act 2020.

There are no other matters in respect of Ms Hartley requiring disclosure under UK Listing Rules 9.6.13(1) to 9.6.13 (2) and 9.6.13 (4) to  9.6.13(6) inclusive.

Summary of Jo Hartley's remuneration

Jo Hartley's base salary will be set at £395,000 per annum, her pension allowance will be 3% of base salary which is in-line with the pension rate available to the majority of the workforce and her benefits will be in-line with our current policy. In FY23, the first year of her appointment, her annual bonus and PSP awards will be set at 125% and 150% of base salary respectively.  This is below the maximum opportunities under Halford's policy and below the incentive opportunities for Halford's current CFO.  From FY24, the Committee intends, subject to satisfactory individual performance, to increase Jo's annual bonus opportunity to 150% of base salary and her PSP award to 200% of base salary in-line with Halfords' shareholder approved Directors' Remuneration Policy.  On joining, Halfords will make a payment to Jo to replace a cash bonus she was required to repay on cessation of employment from her previous employer.

About Halfords Group plc

Halfords is the UK's leading provider of motoring and cycling services and products. Customers shop at 404 Halfords stores, 3 Performance Cycling stores (trading as Tredz and Giant), 374 garages (trading as Halfords Autocentres, McConechy's and Universal) and have access to 166 mobile service vans (trading as Halfords Mobile Expert and Tyres on the Drive) and 192 Commercial vans. Customers can also shop at halfords.com and tredz.co.uk for pick up at their local store or direct home delivery, as well as booking garage services online at halfords.com.