Véronique Laury (born 29 June 1965) is a French businesswoman who was chief executive officer (CEO) of

Kingfisher Kingfishers are a family, the Alcedinidae, of small to medium-sized, brightly coloured birds in the order Coraciiformes. They have a cosmopolitan distribution, with most species living in the tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and Oceania, ...

, a UK based retail group, from February 2015 to September 2019. In March 2019, it was announced that Laury would leave Kingfisher at a date to be announced following the failure of her "One Kingfisher" recovery plan and a 52.8% drop in pre-tax profits.

Early life

Véronique Laury was born on 29 June 1965. She attended the

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

, the Paris Institute of Political Studies, or ''Institut d'études politiques de Paris'' (IEP).

Career

She spent fifteen years at

Leroy Merlin Leroy Merlin () is a French-headquartered home improvement and gardening retailer serving several countries in Europe, Asia, South America, and Africa. Leroy Merlin is owned by the Mulliez family, which also owns Auchan. History In 1923, ...

in France.

Kingfisher

In September 2014, it was announced that Laury would replace Ian Cheshire as CEO of

Kingfisher plc Kingfisher plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher i ...

, a

FTSE 100 The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most market capitalisation, highly capitalised ...

British multinational retail company from February 2015. Laury has worked at Castorama, a subsidiary of Kingfisher, for eleven years, including roles at B&Q.

Personal life

She is also known as Veronique Laury-Deroubaix. She has a daughter and two sons, and lives in

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

. She enjoys

horse riding Equestrianism (from Latin , , , 'horseman', 'horse'), commonly known as horse riding ( Commonwealth English) or horseback riding (American English), includes the disciplines of riding, driving, and vaulting. This broad description includes the ...

, and is a former show jumper.

References

External links

Kingfisher
1965 births French chief executives French show jumping riders 20th-century French businesswomen 20th-century French businesspeople Kingfisher plc People from Lille Place of birth missing (living people) Sciences Po alumni Living people French female equestrians Sportspeople from Nord (French department) 21st-century British businesswomen 20th-century French sportswomen {{UK-business-bio-1960s-stub