Chris Mahady
CEO
Read Chris’ bio >
Mark Whittaker
Deputy MD / CFO
Read Mark’s bio >
Zoe Reuter
Chief Operations Officer
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Paul Clarke
Sales Director
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Sue Careless
Ops Director
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Nigel Hunter
CMO
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Gary McDowell
CHRO
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Xavier Guichard
President
Pierre-Olivier Brial
CEO
Linda joined the Endless Leeds office as an Investment Executive in October 2018. She initially obtained her ACA qualification at PwC where she gained experience across Assurance, Forensics, Consulting / Operations and was part of the Debt & Capital Advisory team prior to joining Endless.
In her free time, Linda is a keen gym-goer and a ‘yogie’, regularly practicing hot yoga. Linda loves show jumping – she started horse riding at the age of 10 and still tries to spend her weekends with horses. Linda has also recently picked up golf in the hope that she’ll be able to match her Dad’s single-digit handicap though she’s still got a rather long way to go.
She spends most of her holidays visiting her family in the Czech Republic where she grew up.
After graduating from EDHEC in 1996, he began his career at Bossard consultants. Hired in 2001 by the French company Manutan as Head of e-business, he subsequently took on various management roles within the Group, including the management of European geographical areas.
He joined the Group’s management team in 2011. Since September 2023, he has held the position of Chief Executive Officer. He runs the Group alongside Xavier Guichard, Chairman of Manutan and grandson and son of the company’s founders.
He is also Vice-Chairman of METI (Mouvement des Entreprises de Taille Intermédiaire or medium-sized companies movement) and founded the Club ETI Ile-de-France.
As a great lover of art in all its forms and particularly keen on contemporary painting, Xavier Guichard is a director driven by the mission of ‘Entrepreneurship for a Better World’.
After graduating from Brest Business School, he worked for Packard Bell and Nec Computers International as a Business Controller before joining the Manutan Group at the age of 29 as Group Management Controller.
In 2005, he became Managing Director of the Scandinavian subsidiaries, then took over the Group’s operations. In November 2011, he was appointed Deputy Chief Executive Officer and then Chief Executive Officer in 2013. Since September 2023, he has held the position of Group Chairman.
Nigel serves as the Chief Marketing Officer at Findel, overseeing the creative, brand, and digital teams. His role revolves around generating demand for our brands and products.
With a diverse background spanning media, advertising agencies, and in-house work for various clients, Nigel boasts a
well-rounded experience in the entire marketing space and across digital transformation. Recently, his keen interest in
data-driven performance has caused him to go 'back to school', as he continues to delve into the technical opportunities impacting attribution and performance optimisation.
Outside the office, Nigel's a true country boy, hailing from the Yorkshire Dales. He relishes long walks with his dogs, taking advantage of the open spaces where he lives and finally, one of Nigel's hidden hobbies is snowboarding, a pursuit he shares with his younger son.
As Findel’s HR Director, Gary does more than the usual people stuff. With more than 25 years’ experience in all things HR, he’s obsessed daily with creating a really supportive spirit in the world of Findel by innovating new ways of creating a great colleague experience which is so close to his heart.
Gary loves it when everyone is happy and always wants to help colleagues shine – he gets stuck in when a job needs doing and wants to keep Findel moving forward and for everyone to help each other out now and again.
Gary’s biggest achievement is continuing to build upon the new ways of working at Findel and being the glue that holds things together. He knows he still has bags to do but won’t let up – he just wants to do more better. His team means everything to him and his attention to detail is legendary!
When Gary isn’t caring for the Findel family, he loves spending time with his own, he lives out of the way in Nantwich, has a dog called Hux and he thinks Star Wars is real! For some R&R time he builds Lego with his son and bounces a ball around with his daughter.
Zoe Reuter is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Findel, responsible for overseeing Customer, Technology, and Strategy. In this role, Zoe ensures Findel continues to deliver the best possible experience for all its customers while leading strategic initiatives across the business.
Since being appointed as Head of Customer Service in 2011, Zoe has transformed the customer experience, which has been pivotal to Findel’s growth. Her leadership was instrumental in driving customer service excellence, and she now takes on a broader operational role in shaping the company's future.
No two days are the same for Zoe. Whether it’s working across departments to develop systems and processes, supporting her teams, listening to customers, or analyzing data, she is dedicated to championing customers at every level of the business. Her passion, customer focus, and deep knowledge of Findel make her a go-to person for many across the company.
Zoe takes pride in Findel’s recognition for delivering outstanding service, including winning a UK Customer Experience Award for supporting customers throughout the pandemic.
Outside of work, Zoe enjoys time with her family and friends. She keeps busy with her two children’s activities and serves as a Governor at a local primary school.
Sue is one of Findel’s longest-serving colleagues. As a logistics specialist, she became Operations Director in 2015 and is the driving force behind the business’s award-winning and market-leading service.
Sue has delivered several pivotal projects during her tenure, including distribution centre consolidations, the implementation of a bespoke warehouse management system, semi-automation, multiple ISO certifications and much more. With responsibility for all site overheads, facilities, and operational costs she is focused on budget management and maximising efficiencies.
As an advocate for sustainability, Sue is also the Executive Lead Sponsor of Findel’s ESG program and has already spearheaded many existing initiatives such as on-demand packaging which saw a CO2 emissions reduction of 46%. She is passionate about climate change and a champion of women in logistics.
When Sue’s not knee deep in orders, she loves going to live music gigs and letting her hair down!
Paul is our Sales Director managing both UK and International sales forces supporting all of our customer groups including regional contracts, trade & resellers as well as early years, schools, and our specialist brands.
He brings strong commercial and varied customer experiences which have contributed to the evolution of the Findel sales function from being largely a transactional team to now a collaborative, commercially savvy and engaging team. Typically, Paul works very closely with his executive and senior management colleagues as well as his sales team – he works to support, engage, and motivate across a number of functions. Looking for opportunity to improve our day-to-day business, but more importantly grow and stimulate new business.
Paul is a good communicator, very approachable and supportive. He wants people to enjoy their work and to develop their skills. Friendly and easy to work with, he supports the team effort. The sales function has undergone quite a turnaround over the past few years, and clearly as Sales Director, growth and results are key to illustrating his performance, but employee voice scores, and his inclusion into many workstreams also indicate his effectiveness.
Alongside growth in our core areas, contributing to the cultural shift we have seen across Findel in recent years, where we are seeing positivity and confidence grow is the standout Paul’s most proud of. Paul has always enjoyed sport and the outdoors, he is a regular cyclist and loves to swim, as well as taking a stroll in the countryside. Music is ever present and even a spot of gardening also helps him to R&R.
Mark Whittaker is the Deputy MD / CFO responsible for Buying, Merchandising and Finance. He’s a qualified accountant with an MBA with over 25 years of experience and has been with the business since 2018, working with the Exec team as well as his own teams to help turn around the financial performance of the business.
With a mixture of strong commercial and financial skills and many years of experience he’s developing teams to create added value in their day-to-day activities and future plans. Mark is understanding but challenging, adopting a continuous improvement mentality to achieve the best possible financial outcomes for the business and to look for new opportunities to improve the business and better serve our customers.
Mark has shown this through his previous achievements by reducing costs, improving efficiency, and providing an improved service for customers, extending his reach by outside finance with the buying and merchandising teams to implement new systems and processes with a more concise but better value set of products.
Another area of the business Mark is passionate about is our ESG strategy, working with our teams internally and extending this into the community. When Mark has a bit of downtime, he likes to do a bit of running, holiday travelling and watching his beloved football team Liverpool.
Chris is the CEO at Findel; he ensures we have great leaders & colleagues who are passionate about what they do. Chris works closely with our Group Chairman, Xavier Guichard and CEO, Pierre-Olivier Brial at Manutan. Our vision is to inspire and empower our communities, so they can inspire and empower our future generations.
Chris likes to spend time listening to colleagues. He believes that’s humility is one of the most important values a leader should have. Chris likes to ensure objectives and challenges are achieved as a team and at pace. He has a great network of peers and feels every day is a good day as he loves what he does and truly cares about Findel.
Chris’s colleagues would describe him as Findel through and through, he is extremely hard working and dedicated. He’s passionate, ambitious and has a real desire to succeed. By his own accord, he’s fun, approachable, and sometimes can be grumpy if things aren’t going his way! Chris has been CEO/MD for 7 years and has a wide knowledge of Findel, you could call him the Findel-cyclopedia.
The proudest moment for Chris so far is seeing the business develop and grow into a market leader in the education resources sector and to take the business into new ownership, under Manutan in April 2024. When Chris gets some downtime, you’ll find him walking the dogs, ending up with a pint in the pub and loves watching Manchester United win (which is a real challenge these days!)
Over 20 years’ experience at director level in executive leadership and stakeholder management on Corporate boards and Private Equity boards: Including CEO of PE-backed businesses, and Group Board Director and Managing Director of FTSE 250 companies.
Overseas experience as Commercial Director based in Hong Kong, and Commercial Adviser to a Russian retailer. Currently CEO of VictoriaPlum.com. Previous roles include CEO JTF Wholesale / Deputy Managing Director and Commercial Director at Halfords Group / Buying Director & Trading Director at Dixons Group.