Simon Arora

Simon Arora has a proven track record as an entrepreneur having built and successfully exited 2 business, as well as 8 years experience as CEO of a listed business, B&M European Value Retail, which under his leadership grew into an established constituent of the FTSE-100.

Following a Law Degree at Cambridge University, Simon worked for McKinsey &Co, 3i plc and Barclays Bank. At the age of 26, he co-founded a business called Orient Sourcing Services Ltd – an importer and wholesale distributor of Homewares and Home Furnishings, supplying large retailers such as Tesco and B&Q through to a large number of independent retailers. Following a successful trade exit 5 years later, in 2005 he acquired a struggling 21-store chain of discount stores called B&M for the sum of £525,000. Simon led the IPO of the business in 2014 at a market capitalisation of £2.7 billion. By the time of the announcement in April 2022 of stepping away from the Group, the market capitalisation of B&M had grown to c.£6 billion.

Simon’s experience is highly relevant to multi-site business leaders executing organic roll-out as well as acquisition through M&A activity both in the UK and internationally. For some 4 years of his tenure at B&M, he also enjoyed a mutually successful partnership with the Private Equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice who acquired half of the business’ shareholding 2 years prior to its IPO.

Simon is a member and former Chapter Chair of Young Presidents Association, a global network of chief executives. He is also currently Chair of the Manchester-India Partnership. Simon currently manages his Family Office, which has a broad range of investments, most notably in a sizeable UK real estate portfolio.