Simon Arora, the billionaire co-owner and chief executive of discount retailer B&M, has announced he will step down early next year after 18 years at the helm. The 52-year-old, who runs the business with his brother Bobby, will retire from the FTSE 100 company, which has grown from a struggling regional chain of 21 stores to a retail empire of 1,100 shops across the UK and France.
The brothers acquired B&M from Phildrew Investments in late 2004. Since then, they have built it into a business with more than 600 UK stores and around 500 in France, valued at over £5bn. Their family office, SSA Investments, sold shares worth £234m in January, following a £214m sale the previous year. The family still holds a 7% stake in the company, which listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2014.
The company said in a statement that Simon Arora wishes to plan for retirement, having firmly established a strong entrepreneurial culture and a talented senior management team. Bobby Arora will remain as group trading director, while younger brother Robin sits on the board. Chairman Peter Bamford will lead the search for a new chief executive, considering both internal and external candidates.
B&M was recognised as one of the retail sector's 'pandemic winners', allowed to stay open during lockdowns as an essential retailer. Its low prices and out-of-town locations appealed to shoppers, with annual sales exceeding £4bn. The company is expected to continue performing well amid the cost-of-living crisis.
Simon Arora previously described the family's background as a 'classic immigrant story', with his father emigrating from New Delhi in the 1960s and building businesses to fund his children's education. Simon studied law at Cambridge and worked at McKinsey, while Bobby went into the family cash-and-carry business. Before B&M, the brothers founded Orient Sourcing, a wholesale business sold for £30m.
