Irishman Eoin Tonge has been appointed chief executive of Primark – trading as Penneys in Ireland – having held the role on an interim basis for the past year following the resignation of Paul Marchant.
Marchant resigned in March last year following an investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour towards a woman. He had led the fashion retailer for 16 years and acknowledged his actions had “fallen below the standards expected” by the FTSE 100 company.
In a statement on Thursday, Primark confirmed the appointment of Tonge on a full-time basis, lauding his “significant strategic, commercial and financial experience”.
Tonge was appointed as a director of parent company Associated British Foods (ABF) in February 2023 and as group finance director three months later, having previously been at Marks and Spencer Group, where he was chief financial officer and chief strategy officer.
The now 53-year-old, who holds a first-class honours degree in engineering from UCD, worked for US investment bank Goldman Sachs from 1994 to 2005, holding a variety of finance, treasury and capital market roles in London, Hong Kong and New York.
Tonge then joined Irish sandwich-maker Greencore in early 2006 as group capital markets director with responsibility for treasury, investor relations and group communications.
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He was promoted to group strategy and corporate development director three years later, and his steady rise continued in 2014 as he was made managing director of Greencore’s grocery division in the UK. He was also a member of its executive board from its inception in 2012.
Tonge was appointed chief financial officer of the convenience food producer in 2016, led at the time by Patrick Coveney, who described him then as having played a “critical role” in shaping the group’s strategy as well as having led the delivery of a number of acquisitions.
He joined M&S at a time of some turbulence for the storied British retailer, which had been shutting stores as its clothing business kept losing ground. Several key executives had departed and its shares had fallen 34 per cent over the previous 12 months.
Tonge steadied the ship and also helped steer the group through the Covid-19 pandemic. As well as his role as CFO, he spent nine months juggling as group chief strategy officer towards the end of his time there.
But he missed out on the chief executive’s job following Steve Rowe’s retirement in May 2022, and made the decision to leave the company shortly afterwards and move to ABF.
On Thursday, ABF chief executive George Weston said Tonge had demonstrated “leadership, judgment and consumer insight” in his period as interim chief executive.
“The changes he is implementing are at an early stage but are already having a tangible benefit in a challenging environment,” he added.
ABF chairman Michael McLintock said: “Eoin’s understanding of the business combined with his financial acumen and strategic clarity mean he has the right breadth of qualities and experience to develop and grow Primark.”
Tonge said he was “honoured to lead such a fantastic retailer into its next chapter of growth”.
“Over the past year my belief in Primark has only grown,” he said. “My priorities are to strengthen Primark’s core customer proposition of disruptive value leadership, enhance our digital engagement, pursue international growth and drive greater operational effectiveness and efficiency.”