Jessica Cooke joins Kingfisher as its new Group Head of Retail Media Propositions and Partners

European home improvement retailer Kingfisher has appointed Jessica Cooke as Group Head of Retail Media Propositions and Partners.

She was previously at Stonegate Group, where she served as Director of Retail Media and Loyalty, and also spent seven years at dunnhumby.

In a LinkedIn post, she said: “I’m excited to share that I joined the brilliant team at Kingfisher this week! Retail media continues to go from strength to strength, and I can’t wait to get stuck into expanding the industry into the home and garden space across the UK and EMEA.”

She added: “Kingfisher is a fantastic purpose led organisation, and the welcome I’ve received in my first few days has cemented the true values alignment I share with the team across the group and their banners.”

OK in the UK

Kingfisher recently reported a rise in ​annual profit, with a strong ‌performance in the UK offsetting softer markets in France and Poland.

For the year ended 31st January 2026, it booked adjusted profit before tax growth of 6% to £560 million, driven by gross margin expansion +80bps and cost discipline. The group, which owns B&Q and Screwfix ​in the UK and Castorama and Brico ​Depot in France and other markets, forecast a ⁠further rise in profit in its 2026/27 year.

On the digital side of things, total e-commerce sales grew +20% excluding Screwfix (21% of group sales vs 19% FY 24/25). Marketplaces are now live across all regions. B&Q launched 15‑minute Click & Collect for 1P orders and completed the roll-out of the UK’s first marketplace Click & Collect service across 300 stores

AI driven product recommendation and personalisation engines are live in all banners (excluding Iberia) - with c£165 million sales coming from this. Retail media capabilities are now available across banner apps and websites. In‑store digital media screens are in pilot at Screwfix, B&Q and Castorama France.

Thierry Garnier, Chief Executive Officer, said: "We have continued to execute our strategy at pace and delivered good margin and cost discipline. This resulted in significant market share gains, profit growth of +13% when excluding last year's business rates one off and strong free cash flow.”

“Our UK banners led the way, with sales +4% at B&Q and +4.5% at Screwfix. This reflects the growth of our digital ecosystem, increased share of wallet from trade customers and the opening of 34 new stores. We are making rapid progress against our strategic priorities across our banners.”

He added: “Screwfix already derives c.75% of sales from trade customers and c.60% from e-commerce. Elsewhere, trade sales increased +23% as we expanded ranges, enhanced services, and deepened relationships with trade professionals, while e‑commerce grew +20%, powered by the successful scale‑up of our marketplaces.”

“E-commerce now represents one fifth of total group sales. With a mixed consumer environment across our markets, we continue to focus on delivering our strategic priorities, maintaining cost discipline and driving shareholder returns. This positions us well to capitalise on the attractive long-term structural growth opportunities within our markets."