Phil Thomas has been appointed as Chief Marketing Officer at Dobbies, the UK’s leading garden centre retailer. Phil joins from Costa Coffee, where he served as CMO for the past three years.
With over 30 years of extensive marketing experience in both retail and consumer goods, Phil’s background includes roles as CMO at Greene King and various marketing positions at Reckitt Benckiser and Procter & Gamble, both domestically and internationally.
As Chief Marketing Officer, Phil will oversee all customer and marketing activities at Dobbies. He will utilise the company’s refreshed brand purpose and values to develop engaging communications and customer experiences, placing a heightened emphasis on customer insight and data analytics.
Phil will lead teams responsible for marketing activities, brand innovation, in-store and digital customer experiences, seasonal campaigns, events, internal and external communications, corporate communications, ESG, and consumer media relations.
Additionally, Phil will focus on enhancing the award-winning Dobbies Club, which boasts over 1.3 million members, aiming to increase its appeal to existing and new members alike.
David Robinson, CEO of Dobbies, commented: “We are building an incredibly strong senior leadership team and recruiting Phil is another positive step in achieving our ambitions. Phil is a very experienced marketing operator who will drive our goal of communicating our focus on garden living through all of our marketing. Phil’s extensive knowledge of UK retail and product marketing will be invaluable to delivering on our strategy.”
Phil Thomas, CMO of Dobbies, expressed his enthusiasm for joining the brand: “Dobbies is a wonderful brand with an amazing 159-year heritage of helping people enjoy their gardens, and an equally great future ahead.
“I’m excited to be joining, and look forward to working with David, the leadership team and all Dobbies’ colleagues to help grow the business by building the brand and further enhancing our customer experience – and so delight more and more customers every day.”
Phil’s appointment follows the departure of Louise Niven, Customer Director, who is stepping down from her role to embark on maternity leave.
David Robinson added his appreciation for Louise’s contributions over the past decade: “I’d like to thank Louise for her ten years at Dobbies, including six years at the helm of the marketing team, building our brand; delivering award-winning campaigns, positive PR and community engagement; and outstanding growth of our loyalty scheme to more than 1.3 million members. Everyone at Dobbies wishes her all the very best for the future.”
Dobbies operates 77 stores across the UK, with a workforce of 3,800 employees and has served over 30 million customers in the year-to-date.
Photo credit Greg Macvean