SIGNA Retail

Torsten Toeller, founder and sole proprietor of Fressnapf Tiernahrungs GmbH, completed an apprenticeship in the retail trade after obtaining his secondary school leaving certificate, and went on to complete a degree in the subject. After a business trip to the US, he developed the idea of a specialty store for pet foods and accessories on the German market. At the age of 24, he opened the first Fressnapf store in Erkelenz, followed by the first store in the franchise system in 1992. At this point, Fressnapf is the leader in the pet supplies market, with around 1,400 stores in 12 European countries, over 10,000 employees and revenues of over 1.8 billion euros. In 2012, Mr Toeller founded Devario Invest GmbH, a company that develops and finances real estate projects. Two years later, he established the GENUI private equity fund, which makes growth capital available for companies.

Roland Berger is regarded as the Grand Seigneur of the international consulting sector. In 1967, he founded Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, of which he is the Honorary Chairman to this day. In this capacity, he continues to hold shares today, and he remains committed to the only leading global management consultancy with German origins and European roots. The company currently maintains 50 offices in 36 countries and employs around 2,400 people. Roland Berger is a member of several supervisory and advisory boards. His Roland Berger Foundation awards the annual Roland Berger Human Dignity Award and sponsors talented children from socially disadvantaged families as they work towards studying at a university.

Dr. David Bosshart has been the CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economic and Social Studies since 1999. This trend research institute is an independent European think tank for trade, business and society, based in Rüschlikon near Zurich, as well as the oldest think tank in Switzerland. Bosshart’s work focuses on megatrends and countertrends in business and society as well as the future of consumption and consumer behaviour, human-machine digitisation, globalisation and political philosophy, management, culture and communities in transformation. He is the author of numerous internationally published works, a multilingual speaker and a sought-after keynote speaker in Europe, America and Asia.

As of September 2016, Dr. Dieter Berninghaus is the Chairman of the SIGNA Group Executive Board and the Chairman of SIGNA Retail. Prior to this, from the beginning of 2008 to August 2016, Mr. Berninghaus was a Member of the General Management as well as CEO at the Swiss Migros Group. This is where, in his position as a Member and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Berninghaus was responsible for the entire retail business and managed 15 companies of the Swiss retail giant. Dieter Berninghaus also worked for Denner AG/Rast Holding AG (2004-2008) as a Member of the Board of Directors and subsequently as Chairman of the Board of Directors, and also as the CEO and Spokesperson of the Management Board of REWE Group (1999-2004). At Metro AG (1991-1999), Dieter Berninghaus was responsible – most recently as Director – for the management of the Internationalisation and Strategic Corporate Development Group Division.