Formerly at Dixons Group plc and the director of his own PR consultancy, O’Brien joined Argos two weeks ago after it announced an upturn in sales figures following the firm’s Christmas slump.
He takes overall responsibility for comms with the media, industry bodies and parliament for the entire Argos Retail Group, which includes Homebase.
Despite a new job title, O’Brien’s role remains identical to Williams’s. He heads a five-strong PR team and reports to group director of human resources Mike Sibbald.
Argos Retail Group’s retained agency is Finsbury PR.
The group reported sales of £3bn last year and is owned by GUS plc. It employs over 23,000 people in 550 stores across the UK and Republic of Ireland and plans to open 35 new stores a year.
