Ben Fletcher was selected as the Conservative Candidate for Mayor in Autumn 2025.
Following 12 years at Procter and Gamble, Ben has sat on the board of three major UK
retailers. He was Chief Financial Officer of Boots before becoming Chief Executive of Boots Opticians where he
led the largest franchise to franchise merger in the UK as the business merged with Dollond
and Aitchison. He developed and led a major initiative aimed at addressing issues with
children’s eyesight. Whilst at Boots, he also led a programme to scale support for victims of
rape and sexual assault.
Ben then joined the board of Clarks shoes where he led the turnaround of the business in
the UK and Europe, shifting the focus of the business from high street retail to digital and
wholesale opportunities.
He joined the board of The Very Group in January 2020 as Chief Finance and Transformation
Officer. Ben led the company’s response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the
cost-of-living crisis. He refinanced the company twice in 5 years, raising over £1bn from the
capital markets, and he also led the processes for both IPO preparation in 2021 and change
of control to private equity ownership in 2026.
For 10 years Ben sat on the board of the British Retail Consortium, helping to ensure
government addressed the concerns of the retail sector and took action to support healthy
high streets as central to thriving communities.
In 2016 Ben became a trustee of the National Literacy Trust and co-chairs the Business
Leaders Literacy Council which works with businesses to improve literacy outcomes across
the UK. In 2023 Ben become Chair of the Anthropy Early Years Network. Anthropy is the
largest leadership movement in the UK and the early year network focuses on how to give
children in the UK the best start in life.
From 2019-2024 Ben was chair of the UK’s 11th oldest charity, the St John’s Foundation
which was founded in 1174. St John’s provides alms-houses accommodation alongside its
Foundation Fund, established in 2020, which works to improve educational outcomes.
You can find our more or contact Ben by:
Facebook: Benfletcher4mayor
Website: ben4mayor
Email [email protected] or call 01244 322732