STERLING Furniture Group has revealed its new chief executive.
The Tillicoultry-based home furnishing retailer has hired industry veteran John Pattison to lead the business, which is currently in its 50th year of trading.
Mr Pattison has operated as a board director for more than 20 years and most recently spent four years as commercial director of ScS, the Sunderland-based sofa and furniture retailer, initiating the roll-out of its concept stores around the UK.
His appointment at Sterling comes after the Scottish company announced in March that it had launched a search for a “dynamic new CEO with strong retail, data and digital expertise to take our family’s business to the next level”, following the decision of long-standing boss Gordon Mearns to step down after 20 years in post.
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Mr Mearns had come up through the ranks at Sterling after joining the company in 1984, rising to become finance director and then managing director in 2003 following the death of George Knowles Jr, son of founder George Knowles Sr, at the age of 41.
At the time Mr Mearns’ decision to step down was announced, Sterling, which has around 600 staff working in 10 branches across Scotland, also revealed the appointment of several third-generation members of the founding family to the board. Murray and Euan Graham, sons of Lesley Graham, buying director and daughter of George Knowles Sr, were made directors, alongside Ms Graham’s nephew, George Knowles.
Ms Graham, deputy managing director of Sterling, said yesterday: “After a rigorous recruitment process where we interviewed a breadth of excellent candidates, we feel we’ve found absolutely the right person for our new CEO role in John Pattison.
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"A highly experienced retail leader, he worked his way up from the shop floor to boardroom roles at major national firms, including ScS, Londis and Booker Retail Partners. We were very impressed by the way he dedicated a significant amount of time getting to know the business during the recruitment process, visiting each of our stores in person multiple times.
“Like us, John believes in the massive potential to make Sterling a recognised national brand once again and he’s brimming with exciting ideas to help us make that happen. We can’t wait for him to get started.”
Mr Pattison, who is originally from Glasgow, said: “I’m hugely privileged to be joining Sterling Furniture Group, particularly in such an important year, recognising 50 years of long and successful service to Scottish households and families. Over the past few years, the business has shown great courage and ambition in transforming into Sterling Home.
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"I know that the aspiration of the family, following in the footsteps of our founder George Knowles, is to continue to inspire Scotland’s homes as we enter the next 50 years. I can’t wait to join the team.”
Mr Mearns will work with Mr Pattison, who joins in August, during his initial months in post to ensure a smooth management transition.
The company said this morning that it continues to trade well in tough conditions and is in the process of rolling out the Sterling Home brand across its 10 showrooms. The investment programme will see its flagship store in Tillicoultry relaunched under the Sterling Home brand.
Sterling added that it also investing significantly in its digital function to drive consumer traffic and purchase, and said Mr Pattison would be an asset in this area having led the rebranding of the ScS website in 2020.
The most recent accounts for Sterling showed the company made a pre-tax profit of £4.15 million for the year ended February 28, 2022, up from £2.6m. That came as turnover surged to £55.5m from £40m.
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