Pentland Brands promotes Chirag Patel to COO

Pentland Brands, the company behind global brand names such as Speedo, Mitre, Ellesse, Canterbury, Boxfresh and Berghaus, has promoted Chirag Patel as its Chief Operating Officer.

Commenting on the development, Andy Long, CEO, Pentland Brands, said in a media statement: “Our focus in 2017 was on setting our business up for growth, so we can make our brands matter to more people. This year is about delivering what we've set out in our three-year plan, so we’ve evolved Chirag Patel’s role, from global strategy & portfolio director to Chief Operating Officer, to lead this work.”

The company said, as part of his new role, Patel will continue to lead the Pentland Brands strategy and planning process, as well as leading growth through the acquisition of new brands and footwear licenses.

“I’m really looking forward to working with the executive team to grow our current brand business, alongside investing in new high potential brands, so we continue to build our great portfolio of active and footwear brands,” added Patel.

Patel, who previously worked across sales and marketing roles for Datamonitor and Power Plate International, joined Pentland Brands in 2011 as global vice president of marketing & product for Mitre International. He was promoted to managing director of the brand in 2013 before moving to Lacoste Chaussures in 2014 as global vice president, product & marketing. He then joined the Pentland Brands executive team as director of strategy & portfolio in 2017, where he led the team behind the investment in US sneaker brand, SeaVees, and the footwear joint venture business with the Lacoste Group.

Picture credit:Chirag Patel via Pentland Brands