Former Wyevale Garden Centres operation s director David Anderson has joined JGOO, the digital commerce specialist, as a non-executive director, to support the company’s strong growth in the UK retail sector.

In a retail career spanning more than 30 years, Anderson has held a number of senior roles, including as MD of BHS International (UK) Limited, where he successfully re-launched the company after it was bought by the Almana Group following its fall into administration.  He left the company soon after to join Wyevale Garden Centres.

He had also been director of operations, marketing and international for BHS Limited and prior to that, spent more than 20 years at M&S, where he held several senior roles.

Launched in London in 2017, JGOO is a leading next generation payments provider with forward thinking technology at its core. Through its official partnerships with WeChat Pay and Alipay, it provides brands with direct trading access to the Chinese market, connecting UK and European companies to Chinese shoppers and tourists. It not only provides a payments gateway for them to pay for British goods when visiting the country or when buying online via WeChat Pay and Alipay, but it also has a team of Chinese nationals in the UK to help clients develop social media marketing campaigns via the WeChat platform – China’s most powerful marketing tool.

JGOO is part of UK FinTech group R8 Limited (R8), which aims to bring the full scope of banking and financial services to support the growing decentralised economy. Prominent entrepreneur Jonathan Rowland is the founder and chairman of R8, which has several prominent backers including Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, who sits on the board as a non-executive director. 

Richard Morecroft, Director and Co-Founder of JGOO said: “We are delighted that David is joining us. He has a wealth of experience in retail and will make a valuable contribution to help us communicate the many exciting benefits we offer to retailers looking to target the one billion potential customers in China.”

Jonathan Rowland added: “David is a very strong addition to our team. As well as being a seasoned retailer, he has significant experience in promoting UK goods and services abroad. We are excited to have him on board.”

David Anderson said: “China is a huge opportunity for many UK retailers, but the road is littered with companies that have failed to break into this market. JGOO is a tried and tested way to do this, allowing retailers to effectively market to China in a highly cost effective and successful way. I believe it is an extremely powerful proposition for retailers looking to target the biggest market in the world, and I’m excited to be working with the JGOO team.”