Cifas, the UK counter-fraud trade body, has appointed John Browett as its new chair. In a career of 30 years, John has been chief executive at a number of major UK businesses including Tesco.com, Dixons Retail, Monsoon-Accessorize, and Dunelm Group. At Dixons, he was responsible for driving their five year transformation strategy and oversaw the merger of the Dixons Retail business to form Currys PC World. Earlier, John played a key role in the transformation of the Tesco operating model, launching and overseeing the retailer’s online operation.
He succeeds Lady Barbara Judge who had announced her intention to stand down as chair of Cifas at the end of 2020; she died last month.
John Browett, pictured, said: ‘I am delighted to be joining Cifas as Chair, they play a critical role in combatting fraud in the UK and I am looking forward to helping Mike Haley and his team to develop the services offered by Cifas.’
Arnold Wagner, Acting Chair of Cifas, said: ‘My board colleagues and I are delighted that John has accepted our offer to lead the Cifas Board. He brings a wealth of senior level executive achievement as well as diverse non-executive experience. We look forward to working with him, supporting the ongoing development of Cifas to meet and combat the continuing threat and impact of fraud.’
And Mike Haley, CEO of Cifas, said: ‘The evolving threat of fraud brought about by the recent pandemic and ongoing economic uncertainty means that Cifas has an even greater role to play in supporting its members and the wider fraud prevention community. John’s extensive business experience and strong leadership qualities will play an important part in helping us to strengthen our services during this time, as well as grow our business as we continue to invest in our membership offering, technology and products.’
About Cifas
Members of the not-for-profit fraud prevention membership body are typically insurers, retailers and finance firms. Cifas managing a UK database of instances of fraudulent conduct. Visit https://www.cifas.org.uk/about-cifas/what-is-cifas.
