Craig Jones

Chief Operating Officer Angling Direct

Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026

Executive Summary

Craig Jones is Chief Operating Officer of Angling Direct PLC, the Norfolk-based specialist fishing tackle retailer listed on London’s AIM market. He is responsible for the physical side of the business: retail store performance and growth, logistics, the UK and European distribution centres, and property. He joined in December 2020 as Retail Transformation Director and was later promoted to COO. Before that he held senior roles at large UK chains: Director of Retail at Holland & Barrett, UK Operations and Customer Experience Director at Weight Watchers, and Sales Director at Phones 4U. At Angling Direct he sits on the Operating Board, the senior management group that supports the plc board.

Career Highlights

• Chief Operating Officer of Angling Direct, responsible for retail stores, logistics, UK and EU distribution centre operations and property.
• Joined Angling Direct in December 2020 as Retail Transformation Director.
• Oversees a UK store estate that grew to 58 stores at 31 January 2026, after six openings in the year.
• Director of Retail at Holland & Barrett, which the company describes as having more than 1,600 stores.
• UK Operations and Customer Experience Director at Weight Watchers, accountable across about 4,000 site locations for business transformation, retail sales, customer experience and contact centres.
• Earlier, Sales Director at Phones 4U.

Professional Journey

Jones built his career in large specialist retail and consumer-facing organisations, leading big teams across several functions. He was Sales Director at Phones 4U and Director of Retail at Holland & Barrett, the health and wellness chain. Immediately before Angling Direct he was UK Operations and Customer Experience Director at Weight Watchers. There he was accountable for business transformation, retail sales, customer experience and contact centres across roughly 4,000 site locations.

He joined Angling Direct in December 2020 as Retail Transformation Director. The Chief Executive at the time was Andy Torrance, who had taken the role in February 2020 and was himself a former Chief Operating Officer of Holland & Barrett. Torrance is now the company’s Non-Executive Chairman. Jones was later promoted to Chief Operating Officer. The company has not published the date of that promotion.

As COO, Jones is responsible for retail store performance and growth, logistics, distribution centre operations in both the UK and the European Union, and property. He is a member of the Operating Board alongside the Chief Technology & Marketing Officer and the Commercial Director. That group supports the plc board, which is led by Chief Executive Steven Crowe and Chief Financial Officer Sam Copeman.

The store estate he runs has been growing. In the year to 31 January 2026 Angling Direct opened six UK stores, in Chester, Burnley, Bradford, Stourport, Grimsby and Croydon, and closed one in Beccles, ending the year with 58. UK retail store sales rose 11.1% to £56.4m and like-for-like store sales rose 5.8%. Group revenue passed £100m for the first time, at £103.9m. The company also sells through its own websites in the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands, with European orders fulfilled from a distribution centre in the Netherlands.

Education

No education details were found in any first-party source.