Kingfisher plc has announced the appointment of Ian McLeod to its board of directors as a non-executive director.

McLeod is a retail executive with more than 40 years’ experience across various different international markets, most recently as group chief executive at DFI Retail Group, overseeing operations across 13 countries in Asia with over 10,500 retail outlets.

McLeod has held leadership roles at Asda and Halfords Group in the UK, Walmart International and Coles Retail Group in Australia. He later joined Southeastern Grocers in the United States as CEO, before joining DFI Retail Group in 2017, based in Hong Kong.

Whilst at DFI Retail Group between June 2017 and July 2023, McLeod was a director of its associate companies Yonghui Superstores Co Ltd, PT Hero Supermarket Tbk, and Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc, which are listed in Shanghai, Indonesia and the Philippines, respectively.

Claudia Arney, chair of Kingfisher’s board, said: “We are delighted to have someone of Ian’s calibre joining our board. His long and distinguished career in retail speaks for itself and the depth of experience that he will bring will help support the execution of our strategic initiatives. We look forward to welcoming Ian later this month and benefiting from the new and valuable perspectives he will bring to the board’s discussions.

Kingfisher operates in eight countries across Europe under retail banners including B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt, Screwfix, TradePoint and Koçtaş. It offers home improvement products and services to consumers and trade professionals.