DFS has announced the appointment of Elizabeth McMeikan as an independent non-executive director and chair designate. Liz joins the board with immediate effect, and will succeed Steve Johnson as chair in 2027.
Liz has extensive experience in consumer facing businesses. Since 2023, she has been the chair of Nichols, the FTSE AIM-listed soft drinks company. She also serves as the senior independent director of Custodian, the FTSE Small Cap UK real estate investment trust.
She has previously held a wide variety of non-executive directorships in customer service focused, manufacturing- and property-related public companies in both UK and Ireland, including that of senior independent director and remuneration committee chair of Unite Group, senior independent director, remuneration committee chair and ESG committee chair of Dalata Hotel Group, and senior independent director and remuneration committee chair of McBride.
Prior to that she held executive roles within marketing and sales for Colgate Palmolive and subsequently with Tesco, covering a wide spectrum of commercial roles both nationally and internationally.
Steve Johnson, chair of DFS Furniture, says: "I am delighted to welcome Liz to the board. She brings extensive and relevant experience and is a key element of our ongoing succession planning to ensure that the DFS board can continue to deliver successfully and effectively for all our stakeholders now and in the future. Liz joins at an exciting time for DFS, with our recently announced rise in profits, our record market share position, and our operations performing at a consistently high level."
Liz comments: "I am delighted to be joining the DFS board as non-executive director and chair designate at such an exciting time for the group. I look forward to working alongside the board and senior management in continuing to build on the strong platform of market-leading performance, so as to further the best interests of all stakeholders."
CEO Tim Stacey adds: "Liz's extensive public company experience as both non-executive director and chair is ideally suited to our context, as we implement next stage in our strategy. I look forward to working with her as we intensify our mission to deliver further improvements for our customers and our people."
