Ian Yates
former UK Region Admin Head, Costco Wholesale Ltd
Secretary, United Way UK
Ian has worked for many years in retail in different roles within Operations and IT. Whilst working in IT in the Littlewoods group, Ian was involved in numerous special projects including a joint venture with Carrefour of France and Price Club of Canada.
Ian was asked to become part of this JV as head of IT, and following the merger of Price Club and Costco, he joined the newly merged business going back to his roots within Operations. Ian joined Costco before the company opened its first UK warehouse and was heavily involved in the opening of this first warehouse. He subsequently moved throughout the UK, opening and managing new warehouses as the business grew.
In 2013, Ian was asked to join Costco’s UK Executive team, and during that time, was instrumental in rolling out the United Way concept to all Costco warehouses.