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Gina Drosos, Signet Jewelers CEO.

Signet Jewelers appoints first female CEO after Mark Light retires due to ill health

Signet Jewelers has appointed Gina Drosos as CEO in a smooth transition from Mark Light, who has announced he will retire at the end of July.

Signet Jewelers is the US-based owner of Ernest Jones and H. Samuel in the UK.

Ms Drosos, who has served as an independent director of Signet’s Board since 2012 and has over 29 years of executive leadership experience in the beauty and consumer goods industries.

Mark Light, who has been CEO since 2014, is retiring due to health reasons, Signet said.

“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Mark for his years of dedicated service and the many contributions he made to the company. He has been instrumental to the company’s growth and success,” said Todd Stitzer, chairman of Signet’s Board of Directors.

Mark Light added: “I’m very proud of all that Signet has been able to accomplish over the course of my career and it has been a privilege to work with such outstanding colleagues over these many years. We made significant progress on our Customer First OmniChannel strategy, successfully acquired and integrated Zale and significantly expanded our penetration of the outlet channel. I am especially proud of bringing our team members together as One Signet. Given the company’s positive direction and my need to address some health issues, the Board and I agreed that it is a good time for a transition.”

Ms Drosos joined Signet’s Board of Directors in 2012. In addition to the Compensation and Nomination and Corporate Governance committees, she is a member of the Board’s Customer Experience sub-committee focused on OmniChannel strategy and winning in fashion jewellery, as well as the Board’s Respect in the Workforce committee focused on programmes and policies to support the advancement and development of staff.

Welcoming Ms Drosos to the new role, Mr Stitzer said: “She is a visionary and transformational leader with a proven track record of growing and scaling global businesses through winning strategies and innovation. Gina’s experience brings a unique combination of demonstrated brand building, given her strong background in beauty, along with the creativity, flexibility and boldness of an entrepreneurial mindset. She also possesses a strong financial background, having managed multibillion dollar P&Ls through phases of high growth, while delivering cost reductions and operational efficiencies. As a member of the Board since 2012, she is deeply familiar with Signet’s strategic vision and has been pivotal in our efforts to realign our organizational structure to enable better execution of our OmniChannel strategy and strengthening our customer experience. The Board has full confidence in Gina’s ability to drive Signet forward in its next phase of growth and value creation.”

Ms Drosos added: “I am honored to serve as the CEO of Signet and look forward to working with our strong management and Team Members to deliver our revised 2020 Vision, which is focused on bridal, digital and women’s fashion. Signet is well positioned to continue to drive its unprecedented leadership in diamond jewellery and expand its market share in growing categories, such as fashion jewellery. I am committed to successfully executing our strategic priorities as we continue to transform Signet to become a more innovative, digital-first and data-driven retailer focused on delivering an outstanding OmniChannel experience to customers.”

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