The Entertainer hires former John Lewis customer director as group chief customer officer
The Entertainer has appointed Craig Inglis as group chief customer officer, effective 7 September.
Inglis has been working as a strategic adviser to the toy retailer since April. He previously served as chief customer officer at Merlin Entertainments and spent over 12 years at John Lewis until 2020, most recently as customer director.
Subscribe to TRBIn his new role, Inglis will join the TEAL Group board and will be responsible for leading all customer, marketing, licensing and brand building activity across both The Entertainer and its sister business, Addo Play. This will include developing enduring strategic partnerships with global licensors and product brands, as well as ensuring the market impact of the group’s proprietary brands, including Meccano, Early Learning Centre and Snuggle Buddies.
The Entertainer said the new group-wide role will, for the first time in the company’s history, unify its approach to customers, brand and marketing across the organisation.
Andrew Murphy, group chief executive of TEAL Group Holdings, said: “After a period of significant change and much hard work from teams across the business, we have earned the opportunity to invest more deeply in our understanding of our customers, the strength of our channel propositions and in elevating our brands.
“Craig is a hugely accomplished customer, marketing and brand leader and I’m delighted that we’ve been able to secure him as part of the team navigating the business through this new era and our next phase of growth.”
Inglis said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be joining The Entertainer. Having worked closely with the business over the past few months, I’ve seen first-hand the energy and ambition across the team, and I’m hugely excited about the opportunity we have to build on that.
“At the heart of it is play. We have an incredible opportunity not only to understand and serve our customers better, but to champion the importance of play and bring more of it into people’s everyday lives – from building distinctive brands and experiences to creating exciting new partnerships and finding new ways to connect with customers.”
Meanwhile, Malcolm Carter, director of digital and marketing at The Entertainer, will report to Inglis and will focus on transforming the group’s digital capabilities, alongside his marketing, PR and customer insight responsibilities.
