Kingfisher hit as marketer leaves Big W

Kingfisher has lost another member of its Big W hypermarket chain management team following the departure of trading director Geoff Brady for Allied Carpets in June.

Marketing manager Katie Spriggs, who reported directly to Brady at Kingfisher, has followed her former boss to Allied, where she will become marketing director.

Kingfisher has appointed Andrew Hickling from Inchcape Marketing Services as a replacement for Spriggs. But it is still seeking a replacement for Brady, who accepted a reported £220,000 salary package to become chief executive of the troubled carpets retailer.

A spokesman says: “Geoff and Katie Spriggs got on extremely well here and he was looking for another person to complement his new role.”

The spokesman denies the move indicates problems at the Big W chain, which is a spin-off from Woolworths. The chain was expected to carry some Asda product lines had Kingfisher’s takeover gone through. Instead, US rival Wal-Mart, which operates giant one-stop hypermarkets similar to the Big W concept, bought Asda for £6.7bn.