The owner of two major UK beauty retailers — AS Watson, which counts Superdrug and The Perfume Shop among its chains — has named a new CEO.

She’s been with parent company CK Hutchison since 2000 and most recently has been AS Watson’s COO and its CEO in Asia and Europe.

Prior to joining the business she specialised in the sports area, having worked for a sports marketing consultancy and the Hong Kong Government’s body for sports development.

CK Hutchison’s Group Co-MD Dominic Lai, who was also Group MD of AS Watson, now becomes Chairman of AS Watson. He said: “After a very fulfilling 17 years of leading the AS Watson Group, I think it is the appropriate time to pass on the baton. Malina has been crucial in successfully driving AS Watson’s digital transformation, implementing the O+O (Offline plus Online) business model, and fostering positive cultural change in the past decade.”

He charted her career path at the firm that started in corporate communications and moved through varied management areas such as international buying, technology development, sales operations, marketing, big data, and sustainability.

In those roles, he said she “demonstrated strong adaptability, strategic agility, and the ability to drive tremendous momentum across the entire organisation”. And he added that “her significant achievements have continued to propel our organisation forward. Malina is perfectly prepared for this role.”

Her new role means she’ll be the one creating the vision and leading strategy for the group.