Richard Cristofoli Appointed as Group Chief Customer at IVC Evidensia

IVC Evidensia has appointed Richard Cristofoli as Group Chief Customer, placing a seasoned retail marketer in a group-wide customer role. Cristofoli arrives with more than three decades in marketing and a career that includes Group CMO at WHSmith and CMO at Debenhams.

A Track Record In Marketing

Cristofoli has built a long career in marketing, according to Crustdata people data. The new Group Chief Customer most recently held the Chief Customer post at Inspiring Vet Care, following a stint as Chief Customer Officer at FGH from 2020 to 2025.

The years at Debenhams brought steady progression, from CMO in 2011 to Managing Director, Beauty, Marketing & Digital in 2017. Earlier, at WHSmith, Cristofoli advanced from Brand Director to Group CMO, building on senior marketing roles at Sainsbury's that included Senior Manager, Format Marketing and Senior Manager, Non Food Marketing & Development. The academic record pairs a BA (Hons) in English from the University of Southampton with a post graduate diploma in Digital Marketing from the Digital Marketing Institute, completed in 2021.

Why It Matters For IVC Evidensia

IVC Evidensia is a veterinary group whose vision is to be the world's best, guided by its purpose, "Healthy Animals, Happy Owners." Crustdata company data shows a workforce of 2,563, up 8.4% over the past 12 months, including 1,652 people in the United Kingdom and 191 in the Netherlands. Founded in 2019 and headquartered in Keynsham, the group has raised $4.24 billion in private equity funding from EQT, Nestle and Silver Lake. At that scale, a group-wide customer leader with deep retail experience is a natural fit.

Hiring Across The Group

The group is expanding across several functions. Healthcare Services is the largest at 779 people, up 15.1% in a year, while Community and Social Services has grown 20.8% to 366. Engineering and Administrative teams have also grown quickly, by 27.9% and 23.5% respectively. Over the past three months the group posted 224 job listings, 209 of them in the United Kingdom and 13 in Ireland, many for veterinary surgeons and nurses.

What's Next

Cristofoli starts in November 2026, taking on a group-wide remit spanning customer and marketing. The appointment, announced on November 2, 2026, strengthens a commercial leadership bench that welcomed a Head of Commercial Development & Growth, Northern Europe, in June 2026.