John Lyttle named chief executive of boohoo group

18 Sep '18

3 min read

Courtesy: Boohoo

The Board of boohoo group has named John Lyttle as chief executive. Lyttle is currently the chief operating officer of Primark Stores, a division of Associated British Foods and one of Europe's fastest growing and most profitable retail businesses. Lyttle’s appointment is a key constituent of the Group's positioning for its next stage of growth.

The appointment becomes effective from March 15, 2019.

During Lyttle’s eight-year tenure at Primark, turnover has grown by 158 per cent to over £7billon and operating profit has grown by 116 per cent to £735million (to the year ended September 16, 2017). Lyttle’s earlier career involved senior roles at Matalan and the Arcadia Group.

Lyttle’s appointment will be accompanied by a number of changes to the existing main Board roles, all of which are designed to support the journey of the Group through its further international expansion.

Mahmud Kamani, currently joint chief executive, has become Group executive chairman of the company with effect from March 15, 2019. Kamani's focus and responsibilities will evolve more towards the long-term strategic direction for the boohoo group and away from the day to day running of the business.

Carol Kane, currently joint chief executive, will remain on the main Board in an executive role and will assume the title of Group co-founder and executive director. Kane will continue to lead the vision for the Group's creativity and multi- brand strategy focussed around the positioning of the boohoo group's brands (boohoo, boohooman, PrettyLittleThing and Nasty Gal) and overseeing the development of the product proposition.

Peter Williams, who as non-executive chairman has successfully overseen the company's transition from an unquoted company to one of the leading companies on AIM over an important period in the Group's development will be stepping down from his role with effect from March 15, 2019.

The Board intends to recruit a further independent non-executive director and will commence a search process for this role imminently.

Kamani and Kane said: "We are thrilled to have secured a candidate of John's calibre as our CEO. We have got to know John over a number of years and are convinced he has the necessary skills to complement what we already have and take the Group on to its next stage of growth. Both of us remain totally committed to the business and will ensure a measured and careful handover.”

“This is a hugely exciting time for the Group as the fast fashion market continues to shift online and more and more customers across the globe are joining as customers of our brands. The Group has experienced exceptional growth over the past few years, with turnover increasing 24 fold from £24.5m in 2011 to £579.8m for the year ended February 28, 2018 and we believe John is ideally placed to guide the Group through the next stage of its growth; whilst he was COO at Primark, turnover increased from £2.7 billion in 2010 to £7.1billion in 2017. Our next priority for boohoo is to ensure we have world class infrastructure and technology in place and we believe John is the right person to lead that journey,” they said.

Lyttle said: "I have known Mahmud and Carol for a number of years and have watched the growth of the boohoo group with admiration. I am hugely excited to be joining the Group at this key stage of its growth and capitalising on what is a global opportunity." (SV)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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