New Look founder retires as heavyweight non-execs join board

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 6, 2019

New Look said Thursday that following completion of the restructuring transaction announced last month, founder Tom Singh has decided to retire at the end of June.

It also named three new non-executive directors to join non-exec Richard Cotter whose appointment was announced in early May.

Singh’s departure comes at the end of a frantic period for the retailer that has gone through some very tough times of late with store closures, international exits and its turnaround still under way. 

The arrival of Alistair McGeorge as executive chairman around 18 months ago came ahead of several key departures with the highest-profile of these being CEO Anders Kristiansen. The board now looks very different from its make up when McGeorge arrived with Nigel Oddy also having joined as COO in April.

McGeorge said of Singh: “I would like to thank Tom for his immense contribution to New Look over the past 50 years. His vision in pioneering ‘fast fashion’ has supported New Look’s growth from a single shop in Taunton into a leader in the UK womenswear market. We look forward to continuing Tom’s legacy and further strengthening New Look’s market position.”

Singh was equally glowing, referring to the “many challenges” but also to “inspiring and dedicated teams.”

Meanwhile, the new non-execs are Angela Luger, Colin Henry and Robin Terrell. They join Cotter, as mentioned, as well as McGeorge, Richard Collyer, John Gnodde and Paul Gilbert on the board.

Luger was CEO of N Brown until last year and Henry is a senior advisor to McKinsey & Co in its Global Apparel, Fashion & Luxury practice. He’s also an ex-Jaeger CEO. Terrell is chair of Wetsuit Outlet and a non-exec director at Karen Millen too. He was formerly interim UK MD at Tesco.

McGeorge said “they bring a wealth of retail experience and expertise that New Look will benefit from as we continue our turnaround and rebuild our position in the UK womenswear market following the successful completion of our financial restructuring.”