Executive Directors
Steven Crowe
Chief Executive Officer, ACA, BA,(Hons)
Steve joined the company in January 2020 with a proven background as a Chief Financial Officer and Senior Executive with a blend of front-line financial, commercial and strategic experience in both the private equity and blue-chip corporate environment, underpinned by a "Big 4" background. Moving from his role as Chief Financial Officer to Chief Executive Officer in June 2023.
Highly experienced in leading businesses in business strategy, M&A, planning and reporting as well as driving major commercial and business change decisions and execution.
Has a first-class record of project delivery, building sustainable senior relationships and developing high performance teams within differing business environments.
Steve's previous posts include COO at Verisk Claims October 2018 - December 2019, CFO Validus IVC LTD June 2014 - September 2018, FP&A Director Aviva General Insurance January 2011 - May 2014 and Divisional Finance Director Aviva General Insurance October 2007 - December 2010.
Sam Copeman
Chief Financial Officer, FCA, BEng
Sam joined the Group in June 2023 as CFO with over 20 years’ experience as a senior finance leader.
Prior to joining the Group, Sam held roles across a variety of industries within private equity, debt leveraged and private ownership structures and has a track record of creating shareholder value through the development and execution of ambitious strategic plans, driving growth and delivering shareholder value.
Sam's previous posts include CFO at Esportif (global sports management), CFO at 3sun Group (pan-European renewable energy services) and CFO at EV (global energy technology, services and manufacturing). Sam is a member of the Institute Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Non-Executive Directors
Andy Torrance
Non-Executive Chairman
After joining the business as a Non-Executive Director in October 2019, Andy became Chief Executive Officer in February 2020 and after serving just over three years as the Chief Executive Officer became the Non-Executive Chairman in June 2023.
Having previously held COO positions at Dunelm and Holland & Barrett, as well as a number of executive roles during a 12-year tenure at Halfords, Andy has a wealth of specialist retail experience.
Commercially astute with demonstrated leadership skills, Andy has successfully grown brands across multiple geographies, driving sales and delivering EBITDA growth by implementing customer-centric omni-channel strategies.
In his position as COO of Holland & Barrett, Andy had executive accountability for Leadership, Customer Experience and Store P+L in 1,064 stores in UK, Eire, the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden.
Martyn Page
Non-Executive Director
Martyn is a co-founder and major shareholder of the Company and the visionary behind Angling Direct. Martyn founded the Angling Direct Brand in 1997 following the acquisition of Norwich Angling Centre. Alongside his executive role at the Company, Martyn has worked as a corporate accountant for over 40 years' advising and guiding companies from start-ups to UK and international operations with revenue in excess of several hundred million.
Martyn is a well-known angler, within the UK and internationally, and is an angling author, who is also involved in national committees and clubs working for the improvement of fisheries and education and promotion of angling.
Chris Keen, MBA, ACA
Non-Executive Director
Chris is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales with 25 years of experience in various Chief Financial Officer roles, focused on scaling up businesses both domestically and internationally across a variety of sectors including retail and leisure.
Chris is currently CFO at M Group Services, the leading provider of infrastructure services in the UK. Prior to this, Chris was the CFO for McKesson UK which operated the 2nd largest chain of pharmacies in the UK (Lloyds) and the largest distributor of medicines in the UK (AAH). Chris oversaw the successful sale of the business in April 2022.
Between 2012 and 2019, Chris was CFO of Holland & Barrett, a leading health and wellness product retailer, where he oversaw a number of key acquisitions across Europe, driving international omni-channel growth. Prior to this Chris was CFO at The Laurel Pub Company (latterly the Stonegate Pub Company), helping to build the business into the largest privately held managed pub operator in the UK with over 500 units.
Nicola Murphy
Non-Executive Director
Nicki is founder and Group CEO of The River Group an independent integrated marketing services agency with clients including Boots, Superdrug and Sainsbury’s Bank. The Group comprises three agencies – River (founded in 1994), Maven Comms PR (founded in 2019), and Reflect Talent for Inclusive Media – a not-for-profit Community Interest Company in the Diversity & Inclusion talent management space.
Nicki also owns a property business, Lightning Properties, and she is most recently co-founder of Beauty & Vitality - a skincare and vitamin start up in the microbiome space. In addition, Nicki is a board member of FIPP, a global members network in the media industry.
Nicki has a 28-year pro bono career volunteering in the charity space. She is currently Chair of the board of trustees at The Sophie Hayes Foundation (supporting survivors of sex trafficking and modern slavery into work), she is also a director and trustee of The Katie Piper Foundation (supporting victims of burns).
Operating Board
The Board is supported on operational matters by a number of senior managers. Details of whom are set out below:
Wouter Putman
Digital & Customer Director
Wouter leads Angling Directs digital and customer-centric strategies, with 15+ years of experience and knowledge of Angling Direct’s evolving business.
Following graduating with an MSc in Industrial Engineering and Management in 2006, Wouter joined the company in 2007 as an EPOS administrator and was promoted to Systems Manager in 2009 followed by Operations Manager in 2012. Wouter was appointed as Digital and Operations Director to the Operating Board in 2020.
He is responsible for delivering overall brand and digital growth encompassing the UK Angling Direct app across Android and iOS devices, and the company’s five e-commerce websites for the UK, EU, German, French and Dutch markets.
He is leading Angling Directs digital EU expansion and is committed to providing customers with the best possible online experience.
Shona Wright
HR Director & Company Secretary, MCIPD, PGC
Shona joined in April 2017, a time when the Company was going through a monumental transformational period. During this time of significant change, Shona extended her role to include the Company secretarial duties.
Adapting to the fishing retail environment whilst leading the people agenda and fulfilling the Company secretary role, Shona is a CIPD qualified HR Manager with over a decade of experience in human resource practice and strategic business partnering. Shona's HR experience has predominantly been with privately owned FMCG manufacturers, including Mars food UK Ltd.
Craig Jones
Chief Operating Officer
After joining the business as Retail Transformation Director in December 2020. Craig is now responsible for Retail Store performance and growth, Logistics, both UK and EU Distribution Centre Operations, and Property in his current role. Prior to joining Angling Direct Craig built a wealth of experience in specialist retailing and consumer facing organisations leading large teams across multiple functions.
Craig previously held the position of Director of Retail at Holland and Barrett, with over 1600 stores. Prior to joining Angling Direct Craig was UK Operations and Customer Experience Director at Weight Watchers accountable across 4000 site locations for Business Transformation, Retail Sales, Customer Experience and Contact Centres. Craig has also held the role of Sales Director at Phones 4U.
Simon Morris
Commercial Director
Simon Morris joined Angling Direct in 2019 as Senior Buyer. He brought with him over 20 years’ experience in the Angling trade following on from extensive retail experience with Halfords.
For the last 15 years Simon has held senior positions in the fields of product development, sourcing and sales management with some of the biggest Angling Suppliers in the world including most recently Pure Fishing and Shimano.
Since being promoted to Commercial Director in June 2021 Simon has been instrumental in implementing Category Management into Angling Direct and continues to drive these principles through his purchasing and commercial teams. Drawing on his network of contacts across the globe he forms an instrumental part of the team leading our project to optimize distribution in Europe.