11th Jul 2016 13:24
LONDON (Alliance News) - Burberry Group PLC on Monday announced a series of management changes including the appointment of a new chief executive officer and chief operating and financial officer.
Shares in Burberry were trading up 5.8% at 1,229.00 pence on Monday afternoon following the announcement, one of the best performers in the FTSE 100.
The high-end fashion retailer said it has appointed Marco Gobbetti as chief executive officer, while current Chief Creative & Chief Executive Officer Christopher Bailey will lose the CEO remit of his role to take on the new role of president & chief creative officer.
Bailey's dual role as chief creative officer and CEO has been the subject of consistent scrutiny, both over his level of experience and the pressures placed on him by holding both roles.
Meanwhile, Julie Brown has been appointed to the role of chief operating & financial officer, replacing current COO John Smith who announced his resignation last month, and current CFO Carol Fairweather, who announced her resignation on Monday.
New CEO Gobbetti, who is currently chairman and CEO of French luxury fashion brand Celine, will join the Burberry board in 2017, at which time Bailey will transition to his new role. Prior to working at Celine, Gobbetti was Chairman and CEO of French designer label Givenchy, before which he was CEO of Italian fashion house Moschino.
"He [Gobbetti] has an outstanding track record of delivering growth in the luxury industry and his vision for the sector and how it will evolve is extremely impressive," Chairman John Peace said in a statement.
"The board firmly believes that these new leadership roles coupled with actions, identified in the recent business review, will significantly enhance our ability to deliver long-term sustainable growth and sector outperformance over time," he added.
Burberry said the moves are part of its ongoing business review which is targeting future growth opportunities in retail, product and digital enabled by changes to ways of working.
New COO & CFO Brown will join the board in early 2017 and Fairweather, who is stepping down to pursue new opportunities, will leave the company at the end of the financial 2017 year in order to ensure a smooth transition. Smith announced last month that he would step down by summer 2017, also to pursue new interests.
Brown is currently CFO at medical technology business Smith & Nephew PLC, prior to which she held a number of finance and strategy roles at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca PLC.
"This is an important new role combining a number of functions together with oversight of our ways of working efficiencies. Julie has an incredibly strong financial track record, as well as extensive experience of leading businesses through major transformation programmes, and is therefore very well qualified to take responsibility for this important and ongoing initiative," Bailey said.
Smith & Nephew also released a separate statement confirming Brown's departure and said the search for a successor is underway.
Smith & Nephew shares were down 0.8% at 1,300.00p on Monday afternoon.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
BurberrySmith & Nephew