Sales Director Benelux

Holland & Barrett, owned by investment firm L1, is a specialist health and wellness retailer with over 230 stores across the Benelux. The new Sales Director serves as primus inter pares within the local management team, with a clear focus on growing sales, improving store standards and customer experience, and navigating the organization through a significant structural transition.

About Holland & Barrett

Holland & Barrett has been active on the European market for over one hundred and fifty years, proudly calling itself the largest and oldest health and wellbeing retailer in Europe. With more than 1,600 stores worldwide and over 230 in the Benelux, Holland & Barrett is one of the largest retailers in the field of nutritional supplements, natural care, and healthy food. The company’s strategy is focused on unrivaled customer care. As a result, it has been recognized at the prestigious Retail Week Awards in the Customer Service Gamechanger category, for leading the way in delivering outstanding customer experience.

Although life expectancy is at an all-time high, the number of healthy years per person – defined as living without chronic illnesses – is decreasing. By focusing on preventative wellbeing products, Holland & Barrett wants to impact consumers’ lives and turn this trend around. All employees are trained extensively on the products and are always up to date with the latest developments in the fields of natural health, care, wellness, and nutrition.

Vacancy: Sales Director Benelux

Holland & Barrett is transitioning to a group structure in which all Benelux MT functions – commercial, marketing, digital, finance, and HR – report into their respective group leads. Within that structure, the Sales Director Benelux serves as first among equals: the chair of the local management team aligns all functions behind one brand story and a single strategy for the Benelux market. The clearest expression of that strategy is in the stores.

Store standards, execution, and customer service are priorities. The ambition is to grow the Benelux stores’ annual revenue from approximately two hundred million to three hundred million euros over the next five years. To get there, the Sales Director develops and executes a network plan for store expansion and refits, while also building out an omnichannel retail proposition that connects the physical and digital customer journey. She/he leads the store operations and logistics teams to translate strategy into measurable results on the shop floor.

Setting high standards and ensuring they are effectively communicated and executed across the organization is what sets the tone. Together with the Director of HR, the Sales Director shapes and executes a comprehensive people strategy, raising the bar on in-store customer experience, team member retention, and attendance. Acting as the voice of the stores, the Sales Director maintains a close connection with the management and leadership teams at the Customer Support Center in Amsterdam. In close collaboration with the Directors of Commercial and Marketing, this strong leader ensures the right products, promotions, and in-store execution – and together with the Director of Digital drives the omnichannel strategy for the Benelux market. As part of the wider group structure, the role works alongside peers in similar roles across the United Kingdom and Ireland, sharing best practices and aligning on what works. The role also carries statutory directorship for the Benelux entity.

The structural context matters. Holland & Barrett is in the middle of a significant transition, and the exact shape of the role will continue to evolve over the next twelve to eighteen months. At the same time, significant investment in the business lies ahead, bringing opportunities for those who help shape what comes next. The right candidate is comfortable with that reality, helping to build the structure as it develops.

“We need someone who can be the face of the Benelux and hold the local organization together, bringing commercial, marketing, finance, and retail into one aligned team with one story. This is a role for someone who thrives on pace, because that’s what the next twelve to eighteen months will require.” – Steve Worboys, Group COO

This role suits a senior retail leader who knows how to lead a large, varied team and implement structured, consistent processes – and who is equally at home influencing peers without hierarchical authority. Candidates with experience in international retail groups, where aligning local execution with a strong group strategy is part of daily reality, will find familiar ground here. As a commercially and operationally minded leader, this person will have a major impact on the success of a well-known wellness retail brand and on the lives of millions of customers on a journey to improve their health.

Interested?

Holland & Barrett is working with Top of Minds to fill this vacancy.
To express your interest, please contact Janko Klaeijsen at janko.klaeijsen@topofminds.com.