Minette Bellingan is the new executive president of Worten, the Sonae company dedicated to areas such as electronics and household appliances. The British manager, whountil now director of operations at C&A Europesucceeds Miguel Mota Freitas, with a career spanning almost four decades in the group.
“The CEO succession takes place at a time when Worten is prepared for a new cycle of growthwith Sonae looking for a profile with international experience in retail, strong knowledge of the digital ecosystem in very competitive marketstransformation capacity and operational excellence”, says Sonae in a statement released this Wednesday.
Present in omnichannel retail, with physical stores, marketplace (online space where partner sellers can sell their products through site of Worten, benefiting from the brand’s support) and services, the company informs that the change “takes immediate effect”.
The new executive president has “a solid international career in leading companies in retail and technology”, says Sonae about Minette Bellingan who has on her CV tickets on Amazonwhere he launched the operation in China and led global operations sourcing and own brands, and by Coupangwhere he led the private label division in South Korea.
“Change is essential for growth”
“I identify with the values of the Sonae Group”, says the manager, “excited” to work with the new team and be able to “build on a legacy of great value, with great confidence in Worten’s potential to be even more innovative, digital and close to customers”.
“Miguel Mota Freitas prepared Worten to enter a new cycle of growth and we understand that this was the right time for a renewal. Minette brings together global experience in reference markets with a digital focus, which we consider to be key to winning in the futureo”, says the executive president of Sonae, Cláudia Azevedo, to explain the change in the company’s top management before a note “profoundly thanking Miguel for the exceptional work at Worten and for the legacy he leaves and will continue to build” in the group, with the Belmiro de Azevedo Foundation and in Sonae’s institutional representation in cultural and educational projects.
After closing 2024 with sales growth of 8% and the objective of “exploiting a rapidly growing European repair services market”, Worten presented a vbusiness volume of 636 million euros in the first half of the year (+7%)with gains in market share “due to its exceptional performance in its online channel” which represented 19% of sales, said the group in the statement regarding the half-yearly results, still under the command of Miguel Mota Freitas who now leaves the company with “huge pride in his journey at Sonae” and the certainty that “change is essential for growth”.