QVC UK has announced that Mark Suckle is to retire from his position as CEO after 14 years behind the counter. Suckle’s replacement will be Steve Hofmann who will join the company in September 2007 and will take over the CEO role in January 2008. Suckle will then become executive chairman until he retires from the company at the end of March 2008.
Suckle joined QVC UK in 1994, towards the end of the channel’s first year in the UK, he has subsequently secured widespread distribution for the channel on satellite, cable and DTT. A major internet presence has also been introduced and Red Button interactivity is now an integral part of the QVC proposition.
Hofmann was previously co-chief executive officer at Shop Channel in Japan, which generated sales of $870 million (€631m) in 2006.