Thomas (pictured) joins Dobbies from Costa Coffee, where he has been chief marketing officer for the past three years.

Prior to Costa, Thomas was chief marketing officer at Greene King, and he has held various UK and international marketing roles at Reckitt Benckiser and Procter & Gamble.

At Dobbies, he will be responsible for the company’s customer and marketing activity, and will be tasked with introducing more focus on customer insight and data analytics.

In addition to leading the teams responsible for marketing activity, in-store and online customer experience, and communications, Thomas will also have responsibility for growing the company’s loyalty scheme, the Dobbies Club, which has 1.3 million members.

David Robinson, chief executive, Dobbies, said: “Phil is a very experienced marketing operator who will drive our goal of communicating our focus on garden living through all of our marketing. Phil’s extensive knowledge of UK retail and product marketing will be invaluable to delivering on our strategy.”

Phil’s appointment comes as customer director Louise Niven leaves the business.

Robinson said: “I’d like to thank Louise for her 10 years at Dobbies, including six years at the helm of the marketing team, building our brand; delivering award-winning campaigns, positive PR and community engagement; and outstanding growth of our loyalty scheme to more than 1.3 million members.”