The past 12 months have been good for Penny on the Move’s Vicky Hennessy. She got married, was appointed chief executive in February, and was instrumental in the 100-strong forecourt business winning Forecourt Trader’s Top Indies Retailer of the Year 2025.
Expect more achievements from the well-regarded Wiganer who remains driven by the fear of lack of time, and to “make the most out of everything life can offer before it’s too late”.
Name: Vicky Hennessy
Job title: CEO, Penny on the Move
01. Career history: While studying at college, I started work in a biscuit factory, making pink wafers. I worked there after college from 5pm to 10pm, and at the same time I worked on a weekend at B&Q on a Saturday and Sunday, so it was pretty full on.
After I had finished college B&Q offered me a full time position, and after a couple of years I completed their management training program. I went on to work at B&Q for 15 years in various HR and managerial positions.
I left there in 2012 after being offered a position with a family friend to support a start-up company. Although I learnt a lot from this experience, I did miss retail and I was lucky enough to get offered a position working for a good friend of mine at Shopmate.
I re-trained in CAD (computer-aided design) and felt that I could put all my skills to good use helping others develop their businesses. It was at this point that I started working with David Penny who was at the infancy of developing his stores. After completing a number of projects with Penny Petroleum, as it was at the time, and having some great successes, David asked me to work for him full-time to continue supporting the growth. This was in 2015, and since then I have worked in various positions and latterly as CEO.
02. Dream job: This has changed recently from panda hugger, which is actually a real job, to the Vice President of the United States. I think there’s a real opportunity in this role and feel that I could absolutely excel as an advisory.
03. What do you drive? An Audi Q8, however I intend to swap this for something smaller this year as the stress of trying to park a large car in a multi-storey car park is getting to me. The spaces just aren’t big enough!
04. Perfect day: I’m lucky enough to live in a pretty awesome place in Cumbria, and on a sunny day I love to just sit outside with my dog and look at the views… maybe, or maybe not, with a glass of wine.
05. Best holiday: Two of the best places I have visited would be Japan and Finland. I love the culture and history in Japan, and the snow in Finland is amazing .I also saw there Santa and the northern lights!
06. Holiday wish-list: I am off to Vietnam this summer. I originally had this trip booked prior to covid and it got cancelled, so I’ve been meaning to go for a while. My son is currently travelling in Asia so I intend to meet up with him at the same time.
07. Favourite read: I read a lot, mainly fiction and can have three books on the go at once. Choosing one is tricky, maybe George Orwell 1984, it’s so cleverly written. I also just read American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins and thought that was great.
08. Three words to describe yourself: Driven, tenacious, genuine.
09. Possessions you could not do without: The obvious thing here is my phone and it grates me how we are so attached to them. I managed to lose mine in London last year, it had my bank card in it and also my train ticket home in my app. I didn’t know anyone’s phone number to call them for help, so was totally stranded. Luckily I managed to sneak on to the train all the way back to Cumbria and lived to tell the tale.
If it wasn’t for the phone and living like we do I actually think I’d be okay stranded on a desert island. I don’t need much maybe a toothbrush and some Elemis moisturiser.
10. What do you most admire? One of the traits I admire the most in people is humility, just being happy with who you are and what you’ve got.
11. Favourite sports person: Can I say I don’t have one? I do like to go and watch sports, but I don’t necessarily have a favourite person.
12. Best news over the past 12 months: I became a ‘Mrs’. I got married in June 2024.
13. Recent achievements: Becoming CEO at Penny on the Move has to be up there.
14. What’s your pet peeve: People looking at their phone when you’re speaking. We’re all just so addicted to them.
15. Biggest fear: I fear the lack of time that we’ve actually got in life, and making sure that I make the most out of everything life can offer, before it’s too late.
16. Most important qualities in the workplace: We work with the 5 P’s at Penny on the Move: Pride, passion, perseverance, positivity and partnerships. This was something that we put in place about eight years ago and we still live and breathe it in the business. Having values both personally and within the business really help drive the right behaviours and ultimately create the culture.
17. What motivates you? Working with like-minded people really energises me, and having a great team to bounce ideas around with and collaborate with really makes a massive difference.
18. Best thing about the job: Being able to do what I do best every day. Being a relatively small management team we are able to make decisions quickly and effectively.
19. Best bit of business advice you have ever received: Have values and live by them.
20. Most recent business achievement of note: We won Forecourt Trader’s Top Indies Retailer of the Year 2025 in February which was pretty amazing and totally unexpected.
