Kingfisher has appointed a new group data director and group digital product and platform director.

Sienne Veit, most recently digital director at the John Lewis Partnership, joined as group digital product and platform director.

Tom Betts, a former chief data officer at the Financial Times, will join the business in September as group data director.

Both are newly created roles, reflecting the central role of e-commerce and big data in the delivery of the group’s new strategy, announced in June.

Under the plans, Kingfisher will invest in digital technology to build new customer propositions and drive growth across its retail operations throughout Europe, which include B&Q and Screwfix in the UK and Castorama and Brico Dépôt in France.

Both Veit and Betts will report to J Van Oosten, Kingfisher’s chief customer and digital officer, to build a digital-first proposition by accelerating data and e-commerce capabilities.

Veit will bring together Kingfisher’s key customer mobile, Click and Collect and home delivery services - including store-based home delivery - into a scalable, agile and product-based platform.

She spent nearly six years at the John Lewis Partnership, responsible for e-commerce trading, product development and design. In an earlier role at John Lewis, Veit was responsible for the retailer’s website, apps and digital in-store technology.

As group data director, Betts will develop a consolidated strategy to accelerate Kingfisher’s customer data capabilities at group level, that will enable each of the company’s UK retail brands to optimise its data capabilities and drive growth.

He spent five years at the Financial Times as chief data officer, where he was a member of the executive board, responsible for the transformation of its print-led business into a digital-first model. Prior to that he spent time on secondment at Pearson, the former owner of the Financial Times, where he held senior roles in data, customer analytics and research in their education businesses.

Van Oosten commented: “I am delighted to welcome Sienne and Tom to the digital team we are building here at Kingfisher - they will both bring significant experience to the business as we accelerate our data capabilities and e-commerce proposition for our customers.”

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