Dixons Carphone has pinned its hopes of a revival on a data evangelist who transformed the Littlewoods catalogue publisher into one of Britain’s biggest online retailers.
Chairman Lord (Ian) Livingston this weekend hired Alex Baldock, the former boss of Shop Direct, to replace its veteran chief executive. Sebastian James, an Old Etonian and close friend of David Cameron, is leaving the electrical retailer to run the chemist chain Boots in April.
The switch is the latest upheaval at Britain’s largest electronics and mobile phone seller. Finance chief Humphrey Singer joined Marks & Spencer this month.
Last month, deputy chief executive Andy Harrison stood down from the board, to oversee a turnaround of its embattled Carphone Warehouse division.
Over the past year, the company has been