Amritsar, NFAPost: The Bata Shoe Organisation, one of the world’s leading manufacturers and retailers of quality footwear, announced the appointment of Sandeep Kataria as its global CEO with immediate effect.
Sandeep Kataria is the first Indian to be elevated to this prestigious global role of the footwear major. He takes over from Alexis Nasard, who is stepping down after almost five years in the role.
Working as India CEO, Sandeep Kataria gained extensive leadership experience in working across geographies, backed by an intuitive understanding of consumers and a determined but inclusive leadership style.
With 24 years of experience at Unilever, Yum Brands and Vodafone in India and Europe before joining Bata India as CEO in 2017, he has been directly involved in leading businesses and powerhouse brands that command impressive consumer following and extensive global reach.
Talent development
A passion for developing talent blends perfectly with Sandeep Kataria’s sound understanding of markets and strategic finesse, making him a leader of exceptional merit.
As the CEO of Bata India Ltd, Sandeep Kataria has helped drive the Company’s consistent growth and profitability. Under his leadership, Bata India doubled its profits driven by double-digit topline growth, and sponsored some of the most ingenious campaigns, including ‘Surprisingly Bata’, that revamped Bata’s image as a more vibrant and contemporary brand, targeted at younger consumers.
Speaking about Sandeep Kataria’s appointment, Bata India Ltd Chairman Ashwani Windlass said he would like to congratulate Sandeep on his well-deserved promotion.
“Over the past few years, the India team has delivered exceptional growth in footwear volumes, revenues and profits, and has strengthened Bata’s customer measures in a highly competitive footwear market. The Bata Group and Bata India both stand to benefit greatly from Sandeep’s extensive experience,” said Ashwani Windlass.
India success
Commenting on the development, Bata Brands CEO Sandeep Kataria he is honoured to accept this new appointment and excited by the journey ahead of him.
“Bata is a brand with an enviable reputation for high quality, affordable footwear. I have been privileged to be part of Bata’s success in India and I look forward to building further on our proud, 120-year history as shoemakers to the world. While 2020 has presented unique challenges, the appeal of our brands and the passion of our people provide every reason for confidence regarding our prospects in the years ahead,” said Bata Brands CEO Sandeep Kataria.
Founded in 1894, Bata is one of the world’s leading shoemakers, designing comfortable and stylish footwear at surprisingly affordable prices. Bata is a family-owned business selling more than 180 million pairs of shoes annually in 5,800 stores and producing locally in 22 Bata-owned manufacturing facilities across five continents. Bata operates in more than 70 countries and has 35,000 employees.
Footwear & Accessories
Bata has held a unique place in the hearts of Indians for more than 85 years. Probably the only footwear brand that offers footwear and accessories for the entire family, Bata has redefined the modern footwear industry in India. It has established a leadership position in the industry and is the most-trusted name in branded footwear. Bata sells about 50 million pairs every year and serves 120,000-plus customers every day.
Bata India is the largest footwear retailer in India, offering footwear, accessories and bags across brands such as Bata, Hush Puppies, Naturalizer, Power, Marie Claire, Weinbrenner, North Star, Scholl, Bata Comfit and Bubblegummers, to name a few.
It retails in more than 1550 Bata-owned and franchisee stores on bata.in, on e-commerce marketplaces and in thousands of multi-brand footwear dealer stores pan-India. To make its products accessible to millions of Indians, Bata has evolved its channels and recently launched new channels such as Bata Chat Shop, Bata Home Delivery and Bata Store-on-Wheels for neighbourhood communities.
