Burberry’s chief executive officer Christopher Bailey has handed over his CEO title to Celine’s former president, Marco Gobbetti, according to the British luxury brand.
Advertisement
“I am delighted to welcome Marco, and I am looking forward to working closely with him alongside the rest of our highly talented teams”.
Mr. Bailey, who has been demoted to Burberry’s president and chief creative officer, faced mounting criticism from investors and analysts after failing to turn around Burberry’s declining sales following a slowdown in China and the U.S. “On a personal level, I know that we are going to enjoy a wonderfully collaborative partnership that makes me very excited for our future at Burberry”, said Bailey in a statement.
Burberry’s revenues dipped 1 percent for the 2016 fiscal year, leading the public company to unveil a three-year plan aimed at improving profitability.
The company is due to release a quarterly trading update on Wednesday.
During fiscal 2016, when Burberry’s profits fell 8 percent, Mr. Bailey took a 75 percent pay cut.
According to Burberry’s chairman Sir John Peace, it was Bailey who chose to bring in a new CEO, after instigating a review of the label created to reduce costs by £100 million.
Bailey who has held the dual roles of CEO and chief creative officer since May 2014, worrying some investors who felt he had too much on his plate, will retain his creative role and also take the title of president.
Gobbetti will be responsible for all commercial, operational and financial elements of the business.
The shake-up at the company follows criticism from some shareholders, who believed that the two-in-one CEO and CCO role should be split once more so that Bailey could fully focus upon creative direction.
Another appointment announced today was Julie Brown as the new Chief Operating & Financial Officer, a new role. He is set to join the board in 2017.
Both will report directly to the chairman Sir John Peace.
Advertisement
Stay tuned for how this impacts the Burberry goods we see hitting shelves.
