SIGNA Retail

Torsten Toeller, the founder and sole owner of Fressnapf Tiernahrungs GmbH, completed an apprenticeship in retailing after obtaining his secondary school leaving certificate, and went on to do a degree in the subject. After a business trip to the US, he developed the idea of a store selling pet food and accessories on the German market. At the age of 24 he opened the first Fressnapf store, in Erkelenz, followed in 1992 by the first franchise outlet. Fressnapf is currently the leader in the pet supplies market, with around 1,400 stores in 12 European countries, more than 10,000 employees and revenue of over EUR 1.8 billion. In 2012 Mr Toeller set up Devario Invest GmbH, a company that develops and finances real estate projects. Two years later he established the GENUI private equity fund, which provides companies with growth capital.

Roland Berger is regarded as Grand Seigneur of the international consulting sector. In 1967 he founded Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, the leading global advisory firm headquartered in Europe, of which he is honorary chairman. In addition, he is member of several supervisory and advisory boards. His Roland Berger foundation annually awards the Roland Berger trophy on human dignity and assists talented children from socially disadvantaged families to enter higher education.

Dr. David Bosshart is CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economic and Social Studies since 1999. The Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute (GDI) is an independent think tank in economics, society and consumption. The trend research institute based in Rüschlikon near Zurich is the oldest think tank in Switzerland. Bosshart holds a PhD in philosophy and is the author of numerous international publications and sought-after speaker worldwide. His work focuses on the future of consumption, societal transformation, digitisation (human-machine), management and culture, globalisation and political philosophy.

Harald Christ – manager, politician and entrepreneur – was a director of Deutsche Bank AG from 1999 to 2002 after holding various management positions in the finance and real estate industries. Following that he was managing partner and chairman of the board of HCI CAPITAL AG from 2002 to 2007. He served as global head of private banking and divisional director of WestLB and as general manager of Weberbank from 2007 to 2008. He worked as an entrepreneur and owner at CHRIST CAPITAL AG, Conomus GmbH and CUSTODIA AG from 2008 to 2012. In the years 2013 to 2016 he was divisional director of Deutsche Postbank AG, chairman of the board of Postbank Finanzberatung AG and chief representative of BHW Bausparkassen AG. He sat on the board of ERGO Deutschland AG and was chairman of the board of Ergo Beratung und Vertrieb AG until 2018. He has worked as founder and chairman of Christ & Company Consulting GmbH since 2018. He sits on a number of supervisory boards, including at ERGO Beratung und Vertriebs AG, Europäische Reiseversicherung AG and Karstadt-Kaufhof Warenhaus GmbH. In addition to numerous honorary positions, he has teaching appointments and is Senator h.c. at the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University and at the Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn. He is politically active as vice president of the SPD Economic Forum.

Dr. Dieter Berninghaus is Chairman of the Executive Board at SIGNA Group and Chairman of SIGNA Retail, as of September 1, 2016. Previously, from the beginning of 2008 to August 2016, Mr. Berninghaus was member of the General Management and CEO at the Swiss Migros Group, being responsible for the entire retail business. Moreover, in his position as member and chairman of the board of directors Mr. Berninghaus managed 15 companies of the Swiss retail giant. Prior to this he was member and afterwards chairman of the board of directors at Denner AG/Rast Holding AG (2004-2008). Previously, Mr. Berninghaus held the positions of CEO as well as of spokesperson of the board of directors at REWE Group (1999-2004). At the Metro AG (1991-1999) – in his last position as director – Mr. Berninghaus headed the business division internationalization and strategic corporate development.