London, 13 January 2020 - Gary Lynch, CEO of GS1 UK has announced his intention to retire from the business at the end of 2020. Having led the organisation for more than two decades, he has decided it is time to embark on a new challenge and to spend more time with his family.

When sharing his news with the business Gary explained…

“Chris Tyas has now been in post as chair for a year, I have built a strong team around me and we have a strategy that is delivering solutions for our membership. I have decided the time is now right for me to embark on a new challenge.”

Gary has built his career on leading businesses through transformation and thrives on the challenge of delivering technology enabled business change.

Since joining GS1 UK he has been pivotal to the trebling the membership base, which has helped the organisation to grow its service offering. One such service is productDNA, the industry-designed service to share trusted data between brands and retailers. This delivers cost savings to the retail industry but also trusted product data to the consumers.

He also led the expansion of GS1 UK into the healthcare sector in 2002. Through the Department of Health and Social Care’s eProcurement strategy, GS1 standards have been mandated across every NHS acute trust and are responsible for saving millions of pounds and thousands of lives.

Gary is also recognised across the wider GS1 network as an individual that thinks beyond his office and contributes to driving the global agenda as a member of the GS1 global and European boards.

When asked about his decision to retire Gary replied:

“I love this job and this organisation, the people, the things we do and the difference we make. It’s been a hard decision, to give this all up. I’ve decided to stick to my life plan and retire early at the end of 2020 to spend more time with my family and friends, and I plan to take up a non-exec directorship role or two.

“Chris Tyas will be leading the search for a new CEO, and we will be taking our time to ensure we find a person who is culturally aligned and can continue to deliver the great vision we have for our members, our organisation in the UK and our role in GS1 globally.”

Chris Tyas, chair of GS1 UK, said of Gary’s announcement:

“I want to thank Gary for his great leadership of GS1 UK, especially in the last decade with the development of GS1 standards in the healthcare arena as well as continuing to evolve the retail sector offering.

“With my fellow directors, I am now looking for the right person to build on this success and take GS1 UK through the new decade.

“The transition is being methodically planned and will take place progressively across the next 12 months to minimise the impact on members and employees.”

Gary summed up his decision by saying.

"This is a really big decision for me to leave such an incredible company. I feel so blessed, but the time is right. What a privilege it has been to lead such an influential network of the best and brightest in our industry."

-- ENDS --

Notes to editors

For further information or requests for interviews, contact Sarah Atkins Chief Marketing Officer (sarah.atkins@gs1uk.org, or 07990770955)

About GS1 UK

GS1 UK is just one of 114 neutral and independent GS1 organisations operating worldwide. From product barcodes to patient wristbands, GS1 standards have been transforming the way we work and live for more than 40 years.

Whether online, in store or in a hospital, the common language of GS1 global standards is helping our community of more than 40,000 organisations across Britain to uniquely identify, describe and track anything, creating greater trust in data for everyone.

www.gs1uk.org / @gs1uk