Duncan Graham named MD of Retail Excellence  

Graham succeeds David Fitzsimons as head of retail lobby group

Joe Barrett, chair of Retail Excellence and COO of Applegreen, with Duncan Graham, new MD of Retail Excellence.

Duncan Graham has been appointed as MD of Retail Excellence, taking over from David Fitzsimons.   

Originally from Nottingham, England, Duncan brings a wealth of retail experience to the retail group, which has more than 2,200 leading retail company members with over 13,000 stores in Ireland.

He has worked in Irish retail since his arrival in Cork in 1996, where he spent two years running the Marks and Spencer store before relocating to Dublin.

Since then he has worked with Brown Thomas as general manager before becoming CEO of ladieswear company Libra Designs. For the last nine years, he has been responsible for the expansion of the Specsavers brand across Ireland, Scotland and Spain.

Joe Barrett, chairman of Retail Excellence and COO of Applegreen, said: “We are delighted that Duncan has joined Retail Excellence at such a critical time for Irish retail and we wish him success in helping shape the industry for the future.”

Duncan lives in Booterstown county Dublin is married to Orla and has three children, Patrick, Emily and Eabha.

Formed in 1995, Retail Excellence is owned by its members. It invests in learning, market intelligence, human resources services, Government representation and member networking initiatives.