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Matthew Cook

Matthew Cook

Senior Manager

Followers of Matthew Cook1000 followers
location of Matthew CookGreater Bologna Metropolitan Area

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  • Timeline

  • About me

    Former Worldwide CEO & Regional President; Now Consultant/Advisor to business in Fashion, Sports, Footwear; Retail; M&A

  • Education

    • Emanuel School, Battersea, London

      1973 - 1981
      Maths, Physics & Chemistry A levels

      Activities and Societies: 1st VIII rowing team, winning numerous regattas and head of the river races.

    • University of Reading

      1981 - 1984
      Archaeology Archaeology, Diploma in Typography & Graphic Design

      Activities and Societies: Rowing Club. Achieved elite status. Competed at national championships, Henley Royal Regatta etc. Participated in archaeological excavations in the UK (Abingdon & Silchester) and in Spain (Ebro valley). Graduated with 2:1 rating. Dissertation was published.

  • Experience

    • Price Waterhouse Coopers - Bologna, Italy

      Sept 1989 - Dec 1992
      Senior Manager

      Only English speaker in central Italy region supporting Bologna, Ancona, Florence & Parma offices. Responsible for all work referred from overseas offices (mostly UK & US) both audit & due diligence.

    • Nike

      Jan 1993 - Feb 2008

      > Fully ran Nike brand & business in Italy. > Member of Nike EMEA executive leadership team. > Responsible for building & executing strategies to drive brand development & business growth in Italy. > Responsible for building benchmark senior executive team as well as strong vibrant bench. > Market development through strategic alliances with key customers. > Nike franchise store development & management. Factory store management. > Sports marketing management, including significant agreements with Juventus and Inter Milan, as well as many top players. Show less

      • General Manager - Italy

        Oct 2000 - Feb 2008

      • Footwear Business Director

        Sept 1997 - Sept 2000

      • Global Financial Planning Director

        Jul 1995 - Aug 1997

      • Finance Director

        Jan 1993 - Jun 1995

    • Umbro

      Mar 2008 - Aug 2009
      President & CEO

      - Kick started the Umbro brand after Nike acquisition. - Integrated Umbro into Nike. - Built strong & capable senior executive team. - Built, executed business & brand growth strategy. - Revamped licensee management. - Re-engineered supply chain for both efficiency & to meet Nike CSR standards. - Managed complex sports marketing contracts including the England football team (FA), Manchester City and numerous others worldwide.

    • AW LAB

      Feb 2011 - Jul 2016
      General Manager

      Created AW LAB concept, rebranding from Athletes World. All stores converted in 4 year timeframe.AW LAB now one of the top sports lifestyle retailers in EMEA.Built business from 60 stores in Italy to more than 200 in Italy, Spain, Singapore, Czech Republic and Malaysia.Built excellent and highly profitable franchise business making up almost 50% of Italian stores.Increased profitability of AW LAB making it the most profitable business for the Bata group in developed markets.

    • Bata Group

      Jul 2016 - Dec 2018
      President - Developed Markets

      Executive leadership and supervision of the following businesses: Bata in all developed markets (Central Europe & western Europe); AW LAB worldwide; Bata & AW LAB franchised businesses worldwide.Executed turnaround of Bata Developed Markets, delivering profit after many years of challenging results and losses. Significant gains in both Bata Western Europe and Bata Central Europe.Developed Bata RED store concept to meet contemporary consumer needs in developed markets, winning internal recognition as the best retail concept in the group. Oversaw transition of omni-channel activities from legacy systems to Sales Force platform, Oracle POS, as basis for digital transformation.Continued development of AW LAB expanding in Asia (Singapore, Malaysia) and new countries in Europe (Czech Republic; Romania; Georgia). Show less

    • Interested in assignments in fashion, retail/e-commerce and sports/streetwear

      Jan 2019 - now
      President; CEO; General Manager

      -Many years experience of successful business leadership -Strong track record of improving, exceeding and driving business performance and results, thereby creating shareholder value-Able to manage and lead complex organisations internationally -Able to manage reorganisations, rationalise businesses and execute turnarounds-Has overseen digital transformations in retail organisations-Highly skilled at strategic planning, and turning plans into commercial reality-Highly skilled in brand building and development-Highly skilled in building and developing winning teams-Well known in sports lifestyle, sports and footwear industries both on brand and retail side-Adept and knowledgeable in all main business areas including product development & management, marketing & sales, finance, operations and e-commerce Show less

    • Fair Play Consulting

      Sept 2019 - now
      Senior Advisor

    • CAVOUR CORPORATE FINANCE

      Nov 2019 - now
      Industry Expert - Retail; Sports & Sportswear; Footwear; Fast Fashion

  • Licenses & Certifications