Poundland snap up Darren Shapland as new chairman

Poundland called on retail veteran Darren Shapland to fill the vacant chairman’s seat, just four months after its £750 million float, following Andy Higginson’s sudden departure to struggling grocer Morrisons.

Shapland — a former Sainsbury’s finance director and chief executive of Carpetright — was Poundland’s senior independent director under former Tesco finance chief Higginson, who will replace Sir Ian Gibson as chairman of Morrisons in October.

Poundland will pay Shapland £200,000 in his new role. Higginson’s departure, slightly earlier than expected, according to sources, comes after two years in the role working towards the discounter’s public debut.

Shore Capital’s Clive Black said: “To our minds it will come as a disappointment to Poundland’s shareholders and its executive team that Mr Higginson is moving on relatively quickly.”

However, he said Mr Shapland was “an outstanding replacement”.