Simon Calver was appointed Chief Executive of Mothercare plc on 30th April 2012. He was recently CEO of Lovefilm, the online DVD and Digital Entertainment company, now part of Amazon Inc.

He previously worked in brands and marketing with Unilever and PepsiCo, in charge of the UK business launching Pepsi Max, Pepsi Blue and the development of the Pepsi Music activity. At PepsiCo he also moved to the US as VP Sales Operations managing worldwide franchise partners.

After Pepsi he was GM and VP for Dell Home and Small Business operations based in Ireland and also COO and President of Riverdeep Inc., the interactive digital education company.

His career began in 1974 in a store in his home city of Liverpool where he worked while he was studying. You could say that Tesco is in his blood – his father, who retired in 1979, was a Store Manager in a number of Tesco stores around Liverpool for many years.

After graduating with a degree in Economics, he joined the Tesco Management Training Programme and after that spent the following nine years in Store Management before enjoying roles in the commercial and marketing functions.

In 1994 he had his first spell as a Stores Director and a year later was promoted to Regional Managing Director for 200 stores in the Midlands, North of England and Scotland.

Philip was appointed to the board of Tesco PLC in November 1998 with responsibility for the Supply Chain and the following year added Information Technology to his brief. After a very successful six years in that role Philip took responsibility for the businesses outside the UK – in eleven countries across Asia and Eastern Europe and led our entry into China and India. He remained Chief Information Officer until taking up the role of CEO.

Justin is a member of the CBI President’s Committee and is a non-executive director of Staples Inc.

In January 2009 Justin was appointed to the Board of the London Organising Committee for the Olympics by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

In October 2010 he was made a member of the Prime Minister’s Business Advisory Group.

In the Birthday Honours 2011 Justin was awarded a CBE

Stefano is truly the architect of the Group. Born in Italy, he graduated in nuclear engineering from the Milan Polytechnic before starting his career in academia and later joining market research firm ACNielsen in Milan. In the mid-1970’s, he joined his family’s local pharmaceutical wholesale business. His vision of an international pharmaceutical group dates back to that time. Stefano re-structured the family company and then acquired a number of other small pharmaceutical wholesale businesses to create Alleanza Farmaceutica in 1977, which later became Alleanza Salute Italia. By 1985, he was overseeing Italy’s leading pharmaceutical wholesaler.

In 1988, Stefano expanded his business into several Southern European countries through mergers, acquisitions and partnerships. The Alliance Santé Group was born of these acquisitions and of an innovative merger with some French wholesalers.

This was to be the springboard for further international expansion. In 1998, Alliance Santé merged with the UK business UniChem to form the Alliance UniChem Group, of which Stefano was CEO until 2004, before taking on the role of Executive Deputy Chairman. In just a few years, he developed Alliance UniChem from a primarily pharmaceutical wholesaler with a presence in a few countries to a pan-European leader with two core businesses, pharmaceutical wholesale and retail pharmacy, in more than 12 countries.

In 2006, Stefano orchestrated the merger of Alliance UniChem Plc with Boots Group PLC to form Alliance Boots plc. In 2007, together with KKR, he created AB Acquisitions and acquired Alliance Boots with the aim of growing the Group further and faster to enhance its position as an international leader in the healthcare services and beauty industries.

In 2012, Stefano took a crucial step forward towards achieving his vision of forging a global leader through the strategic partnership between Alliance Boots and Walgreens - the largest drug store chain in the US. This partnership, which aims to create the first global pharmacy-led, health and wellbeing enterprise, marks a positive milestone for the healthcare industry as a whole.

In March 2013, Alliance Boots and Walgreens together announced their innovative long-term partnership with AmerisourceBergen, one of North America’s largest pharmaceutical services companies. This relationship will enable the three companies to benefit from greater scale and global opportunities and work together on programs to improve service levels and efficiencies.

As well as heading the Alliance Boots Board and executive team, Stefano is non-executive Director of a number of the Group’s businesses and associates.  In addition, he also sits on the Board of Walgreens as its largest shareholder. He is recognised as a driving force in the healthcare industry and has received a number of awards and distinctions for his contribution to the sector.

Stuart was knighted in 2008 for services to the retail industry and corporate social responsibility.

In 1989 he transferred his skills to the drinks industry when he was appointed Group Finance Director of H.P. Bulmer Holdings PLC.

Retail beckoned, and in 1994 Michael took up the post of Managing Director of Lloyds Chemists PLC, later cementing a talent for the sector with retail roles at Celsio AG and Apax Partnership.

It was in 2005 that the opportunity came to take up his current role of Managing Director at Harrods Ltd.  Michael has embarked on a programme of significant business development, growing Harrods into the unrivalled successful retail model it is today, while overseeing a smooth transition to new owners in Qatar Holding.