Michael Armstrong is JD Sports' first global MD

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 21, 2023

JD Sports has appointed a global managing director for the first time with the new exec role being created particularly to oversee the star JD brand's rapid growth.

It’s an internal promotion with group buying director Michael Armstrong stepping into the new post as the company continues its aim of becoming the “leading global sports-fashion powerhouse”.

He’ll report directly to still-new CEO Régis Schultz, controlling the strategic direction of the JD brand, its operations and its staff, while continuing to develop the business and grow it globally.

It’s an interesting appointment given that he’s a JD insider through and through having joined the firm in 1995 as a sales assistant in Glasgow. He’s moved through a number of key roles since then as the business has grown into one of the world’s premier sports retailers.

He became group buying director in 2014, which meant he also oversaw the fashion brands the company owned, as well as its Size? chain.

His new role comes as the business continues to expand in its core sports area. It has sold off many smaller fashion-focused labels to concentrate on sports and plans to open between 250 and 300 new JD stores annually.

Schultz said that the new global MD “has been pivotal in the group’s success to date, and brings unrivalled knowledge and understanding of our consumer to our management team”.

He added that he’s “respected by colleagues and brand partners as one of the leading market authorities on what works and why, making him the right person to take the JD brand through its next chapter of growth”.