Pets at Home Group Plc (PETS) Q2 2023 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Good morning. I am Lisa McGowan and I've been the CEO of Pets at Home for almost six months now and it's been fantastic. I've seen and felt firsthand the fabulous and supportive culture Pets at Home has and I've received such a warm and open welcome from everyone and I've really felt the whole business has been behind me from day one. So, what are my views of the business six months in? Well, this is a truly compelling, distinctive and strong business with significant opportunity ahead and we have a plan to lean into it. My previous background has been in building consumer-centric, technology-enabled growth businesses in the media and telco sectors. So my first objective was to learn the business from the ground up. So I've made sure to spend lots of time in stores, in vets, in distribution centres and groomers. I've unloaded lorries, packed customer orders, cleaned fish tanks, groomed dogs and prepped cats for surgery. And this has given me the insight I wanted and allowed me to meet as many colleagues and customers as possible and hear their views on the business. I've also focused on building a deep understanding of the sector through data and insight, which we have an incredible amount of, as well as meeting with many of our suppliers, partners and charities. I've undertaken a reorganisation to simplify our structure and to better integrate the retail and vets businesses, and we've been able to promote and rotate some key internal talent as part of this process, which provides continuity, secures expertise and enables real progression for our best people. I've also hired Rachel Mooney as our Chief People Officer, and she brings deep functional expertise as well as data, digital and services experience. As part of this change, I've also created a new consumer func...