Colm Johnston – Director of Trading, Booker

Colm Johnson has over 30 years of experience in the wholesale industry.  He started his career as a part time assistant at Linfood Cash & Carry in Rochdale.  He progressed to Assistant Manager in 1988 and management roles across the northwest, before leading the team that opened Booker’s flag ship branch in Stockport in 1997. Following this success, Colm turned around loss making branches in northern England, before becoming Regional Trading Director for the north of England and Scotland in 2003, where he was responsible for tactical activity and local ranging.

A further promotion followed in 2006 to the central buying function and the role of Director of Trading, where Colm led the grocery, snacks, and confectionery teams and then added both tobacco and soft drinks to his portfolio.  During this time Colm was instrumental in the launch of Euro Shopper and also Booker’s Tobacco Club.

In September 2019 Colm moved to his current role of Managing Director, Booker Group – Retail, where he is responsible for the development of the complete Booker Group retail business that includes Booker Wholesale, Booker Retail Partners and all independent, regional and national accounts.  Despite recent years being challenging for independent retail, Colm and his team have grown all Booker’s symbol brands significantly and celebrated many successes such as Premier reaching 4000 stores and 150th Anniversary of Budgens. 

Colm is a Vice Chair of the ACS and mentors many colleagues across the Booker business.  He is also the Exec sponsor of Booker’s LGBTQ+ Colleague Network, and his work here is what he will be sharing.  Colm will talk about what he has learned and how this experience is influencing him and how he leads his teams, along with offering practical advice to help independent retailers embrace D&I.