Anja Madsen has been appointed as the new chief operating officer – retail of Pets at Home, effective from early April 2024.

Ms Madsen will be responsible for leading the retail business and 9,000 staff across more than 450 stores, with oversight of operations, logistics, supply chain and commercial activities.

She succeeds Lisa Miao, who announced her retirement last summer following a 34-year career in UK retail.

Ms Madsen joins Pets at Home having gained extensive retail experience in both the UK and Denmark, holding prominent positions at Tesco and Sainsbury’s, and most recently serving as chief executive of Føtex, a supermarket chain in Denmark.

Over the course of the last 15 years, she has gained leadership experience across all parts of retail operations including commercial, strategy, transformation, supply chain and operational management. Prior to this, she was a marketing leader at Johnson & Johnson in Europe and the Middle East following four years as a strategy consultant across a range of industries.

Ms Madsen is a graduate of the London School of Economics and holds an MBA from INSEAD.

She said: “As a specialist retailer with such passionate and purpose-led colleagues, Pets at Home is a business I have admired from afar and I am delighted to have the opportunity to join the executive team at such an exciting time.

“With the new distribution centre in operation, the rollout of the Pets re-brand and the digital transformation underway, the business is well placed to achieve its goal of building the world’s best pet care platform, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Lyssa McGowan, Pets at Home’s chief executive, added: “I am delighted that Anja will be joining the Pets at Home executive team to lead our retail business.

“We have made significant investments into our retail operations over the last 18 months and Anja’s experience leading consumer-focussed businesses will help us to realise our next phase of growth as we continue to deliver for pets and the people who love them.”