Richard O'Brien

Prior to joining Ankura, Richard held roles at a leading Retail Artificial Intelligence organization and two global consulting firms, with a focus on retail and performance improvement. In his work with clients, he has created actionable and sustainable solutions to drive Revenue, EBITDA, and reduce costs. His projects include:

• Optimized aged inventory processes, improved markdown cadence at stores, sell-through of slower moving inventory to deliver $5 million in incremental annualized margin
• Dramatically cut losses 50% and delivered over $150 million in profits within 18 months for a $10 billion discount chain as part of a far-reaching operational change initiative, encompassing organizational design, distressed inventory management, SKU reduction, human capital, and technology
• Delivering $250 million in incremental sales and $85 million in margin leveraging analytics to drive promotion optimization, pricing strategy, shrink reduction, assortment, and display strategies in stores and online.
• Assisting in the development of predictive models and custom segmentations that drove $20 million in incremental margin on an annualized basis
• Captured over $65 million in EBIDTA improvements across grocery/general merchandise, vendor returns and funding, freight, and home office/club labor, leveraging data analytics to identify efficiencies and enhance visibility into costs.
• Delivered $136 million in cost savings and margin in 24 months for a large super store chain through the development and implementation of a program that improved inventory management practices, category profitability, store labor, and operating systems.
• Identified $153 million in supply chain and retail operation improvements for a leading music retailer. Assessed retail operations, inventory management practices, supply chain, and IT to determine path to profitability and established 1-year and 2-year strategies. In addition to his advisory work, Richard has held several roles with leading retailers focused on strategic initiatives, project execution, and store operations.