Christel Delberghe, the new director general at EuroCommerce, believes that European retail is more than capable of navigating these uncertain times, provided the support is there. ESM met her. This article first appeared in ESM May/June 2022.
The term ‘baptism of fire’ is perhaps overused, but for Christel Delberghe, the new director general of EuroCommerce, the first few months in the job have been anything but run-of-the-mill.
Having first joined EuroCommerce, which represents the retail and wholesale sector in Europe, in 2001, last October saw her take over from longstanding director general Christian Verschueren at the head of the organisation, at a time when it seemed things were returning to normal following the pandemic. Since then, Europe has been faced with a further COVID wave, supply chain challenges, sky-high inflation and, most concerningly of all, the return of war to its borders.