AF Blakemore has appointed CJ Antal-Smith as its new chief commercial officer.
She started the newly created role today, in which she will lead the commercial and marketing teams to strengthen relationships with shoppers, retailers, suppliers and stakeholders.
Antal-Smith has joined the Spar wholesaler from Poundland & Dealz, where she was responsible for the commercial, marketing and digital functions.
She has also brought “extensive food and convenience retail experience” from her previous senior commercial roles at Co-op, Halfords, Nando’s and Asda.
The appointment comes as AF Blakemore, which supplies over 900 Spar stores, has looked to accelerate its customer-led strategy.
Earlier this year, the company began supplying more than 80 EG On The Move stores, and in June, it launched Blakemore Trade Partners Plus, which included a £4.5m investment package delivering lower prices, up to 8% rebates and tailored support to help independent retailers thrive in a changing market.
AF Blakemore also announcement a partnership with Iceland in June on frozen food, enhancing its ‘tonight’s tea’ proposition with innovation and value, it said.
It has also recently extended its partnership with supply chain specialist Relex into its company-owned retail stores, helping to unify in-store planning with wholesale and distribution, which it said would “boost product availability, minimise waste, and streamline operations”.
Together, these developments reinforced AF Blakemore’s commitment to innovation, partnership and long-term sustainable growth, it said.
“CJ’s track record in commercial leadership, as well as her deep understanding of the customer in the convenience retail space makes her a powerful addition to our business,” said AF Blakemore CEO Carol Welch.
“By bringing the marketing and commercial teams together under her leadership we will strengthen our customer-led strategy, as well as building stronger partnerships across shoppers, retailers, suppliers and other stakeholders, resulting in a further acceleration in our growth.”
Antal-Smith added: “It’s a very exciting time to be joining AF Blakemore as it embeds its exciting customer-led strategy across the business, with new retail partnerships opening up new routes to market.
“Convenience is changing fast – people are shopping little and often, and community, value and choice matter more than ever. That’s exactly where AF Blakemore is making a real difference, and I can’t wait to get started and work with the team to build on this momentum.”
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