Board Director for Retail Estate and Capital Allocation

Test the investment logic

Challenge proposals for new locations, format changes, renewals and exits using realistic assumptions about demand, cost and cannibalisation. Examine the treatment of leases, maintenance needs and investment required to keep existing assets competitive. A proposal's attractive return should be tested against operational capacity and the downside if expected customer behaviour does not emerge.

Consider physical and digital channels together. Ask whether an investment improves the overall customer offer or moves revenue between channels at a higher total cost. Review the implications for logistics, workforce capability and future flexibility. Ensure management distinguishes necessary maintenance from discretionary growth when presenting capital priorities.

Oversight through the investment life

Assess approval gates, post-investment review and the quality of management learning. Challenge repeated optimism in business cases while allowing justified experimentation. Seek clear evidence on underperforming investments and options for adaptation, disposal or closure before sunk cost dominates the discussion.

The director will participate in collective decisions and agreed committee work, with eligibility and independence assessed for the actual entity. They will not negotiate property transactions or direct development projects. Relevant interests in property, suppliers or financing counterparties must be disclosed.

The judgement behind the investment challenge

Applicants should have substantial retail, consumer infrastructure or multi-site investment experience and strong financial judgement. They must show how they compared competing uses of capital and dealt with an investment that failed to meet its original case. Board experience or comparable governance responsibility is desirable.

Effective contribution makes capital choices more coherent, assumptions more explicit and post-investment learning more useful. The board should understand both the commitments being added and the flexibility being surrendered. Success is a portfolio of investments that supports a deliverable customer strategy, preserves resilience and avoids expansion that the operating organisation cannot sustain.