EuroCommerce is delighted to announce the appointment of Lucy Neville-Rolfe as its new President, following her election at the EuroCommerce General Assembly today. Lucy will take up her three-year mandate on 1 July.

As Executive Director (Corporate & Legal Affairs) and member of the Board at Tesco, Lucy oversees corporate governance across six EU member states and brings a wealth of international experience to the European commerce sector. She joined Tesco in 1997 from the Cabinet Office. She also held a number of senior Government positions at the Prime Minister's Policy Unit in 10 Downing Street, at BIS and at DEFRA.

Lucy’s key priorities will be to strengthen the visibility of the commerce sector among policy-makers and increase their understanding of the sector’s contribution to restoring growth and creating jobs.

Current President Dr. von Leoprechting says, “We are delighted that Lucy Neville-Rolfe has been elected. With extensive experience in both business and government, Lucy brings with her an energy and proven track record of building strong alliances between people and organisations. She has been engaged in European issues throughout her entire career and is ideally placed to represent the interests of the commerce sector in the EU.”

Lucy Neville-Rolfe comments, “I am passionate about European business and am looking forward to getting started. If we are to establish sustainable growth in Europe, it is crucial that large and small businesses work collaboratively together so that we can achieve outcomes that benefit us all.”

Christian Verschueren, EuroCommerce Director General says, “We would like to sincerely thank Dr. von Leoprechting who has laid the foundation for a stronger EuroCommerce. He has led the organisation through a challenging period for the commerce sector, and has spearheaded the creation of a dialogue with the supply chain partners. We look forward to working with Lucy over the coming years.”

~ENDS~

For further information, please contact:

Marjolein Raes

Director, Advocacy & Communications

Tel: +32 2 737 05 99

raes@eurocommerce.be

EuroCommerce and the commerce sector

EuroCommerce represents the retail, wholesale and international trade sectors in Europe. Its membership includes commerce federations and companies in 31 European countries.

Commerce plays a unique role in the European economy, acting as the link between manufacturers and the nearly 500 million consumers across Europe over a billion times a day. It is a dynamic and labour-intensive sector, generating 11% of the EU’s GDP. Over 95% of the 6 million companies in commerce are small and medium-sized enterprises. The sector is a major source of employment creation: 31 million Europeans work in commerce. It also supports millions of dependent jobs throughout the supply chain from small local suppliers to international businesses.