Simon has served as a Non-executive Director of Bakkavor since February 2017 and was appointed as Chairman in October 2017. Simon is a chartered accountant with over 30 years’ experience in the retail and food sectors. Following a decade in financial and advisory roles, he was appointed CEO of Virgin Retail UK in 1988, and following a turnaround of that business, held increasingly senior roles until appointed CEO of the global Virgin Entertainment Group in 1996. In 1999, Simon was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive of Hamleys plc where he completed a successful restructuring and subsequent sale of the company in 2003. Simon then specialised in value creation roles in both quoted companies and private-equity-backed businesses. He has chaired many well-known consumer businesses, including Majestic Wine, Mitchells & Butlers, Bathstore.com, and Superquinn. Simon is Chairman of The Light Cinemas (Holdings) Limited and Blue Diamond Limited and an independent Non-executive Director of Camelot UK Lotteries Limited.