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Annu von Weymarn, who has served as interim CFO since January, has today been appointed chief financial officer and management team member at Puuilo Plc, effective immediately, cementing the Finnish discount retailer’s finance leadership as it prepares to enter Sweden and continues an aggressive domestic store rollout.
The appointment closes the succession process that began after former CFO Ville Ranta departed and gives Puuilo permanent finance leadership at a moment when the company is balancing expansion, governance changes, and shareholder returns. Von Weymarn had already been leading the finance function for more than four months before the permanent appointment.
Puuilo also announced last week that Venetia Messini will join as country manager of Swedish subsidiary Puuilo Varuhus AB on June 1, giving the retailer a dedicated in-country leadership structure ahead of its first Swedish pilot stores.
Internal succession after external search
Puuilo, a Finland-based discount retail chain, promoted von Weymarn from within after nearly seven years at the company. She joined in 2019 as financial controller, became head of financial controlling in 2021, and stepped into the interim CFO role at the start of 2026.
Her background is heavily weighted toward retail finance and compliance. Before joining Puuilo, she spent seven years as an IFRS specialist at Kesko and six years as an auditor at KPMG, giving the company a finance chief with deep technical accounting and reporting experience as its operating structure becomes more complex through international expansion.
The wording around the appointment is notable. CEO Juha Saarela specifically referenced a ‘thorough recruitment process’ before confirming von Weymarn permanently in the role after more than four months as interim CFO. The move reduces execution risk at a time when Puuilo is simultaneously expanding its Finnish store network and preparing its first market entry outside Finland.
Von Weymarn linked the role directly to the company’s international strategy. “It is great to continue contributing to Puuilo’s growth in my new role as CFO,” she said. “The company is in a strong phase of development, and as international expansion progresses, it is exciting to support the company’s success in international markets.”
Sweden push taking shape
The CFO appointment came a few days after Puuilo named Venetia Messini country manager for its Swedish business, effective June 1, creating a clearer operational structure for the expansion effort.
Negotiations are underway for the company’s first Swedish pilot store locations, though Puuilo has not disclosed sites or opening dates. The decision to appoint a dedicated Sweden country manager before launch suggests the company intends to operate the market locally from the outset rather than manage expansion directly from Helsinki.
Taken together, the appointments point to a deliberate sequencing of Puuilo’s next phase: establish permanent finance leadership, install country-level management in Sweden, and then move into pilot-store execution.
Governance reset now stabilizing
The leadership changes follow a broader reset across Puuilo’s governance structure over the past year.
At the company’s last AGM on May 12, shareholders re-elected all five existing board members: Susanne Hounsgaard, Jens Joller, Mammu Kaario, Tuomas Piirtola, and Markku Tuomaala. The re-election is significant because the board itself was substantially rebuilt in 2025 when several directors departed, and both Hounsgaard and Tuomaala joined.
The company also formalized its committee structure, with Piirtola chairing the audit committee and Joller chairing the HR and remuneration committee. Kaario continues as board chair.
The broader picture is of a retailer moving from transition into execution mode. Over the past twelve months, Puuilo has rebuilt parts of its board, transitioned finance leadership internally, and added operational leadership for Sweden while continuing to expand its Finnish store network with openings planned in Espoo, Lahti, Kangasala, Raasepori, Kurikka, and Turku. The success of the Sweden pilot stores is now likely to become the defining operational test for the company’s current leadership team.
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