Almost the entire board of Superdry has resigned or handed in their notice following the re-election today of co-founder Julian Dunkerton to the board.
Chair Peter Bamford, chief executive Euan Sutherland, chief financial officer Ed Barker and chair of the remuneration committee Penny Hughes have all resigned and will stand down with immediate effect.
Non-executive directors Dennis Millard, Minnow Powell, Sarah Wood and John Smith have given three months’ notice and will stand down on July 1.
Dunkerton has become interim chief executive and Peter Williams, the former Selfridges chief executive and Boohoo chair who was also elected to the board today, becomes chair.
The board had signalled its intention to exit in a circular to shareholders ahead of an EGM today to vote on Dunkerton’s return.
The only board member who has not resigned or served notice is Simon Callander, group general counsel and company secretary.
Dunkerton and Williams said: “We are very pleased to be joining the board of this great British company. We look forward to rebuilding the Superdry brand and the business.”
Dunkerton had been a vocal critic of Superdry’s management since he left the business in March 2018. He blamed discounting and poor product decisions for two profit warnings issued since he left and for wiping out £1.2bn of shareholder value.
He, with co-founder James Holder, own 29% of Superdry and had been pushing for a return to the business since late last year.
Superdry’s management had argued that Dunkerton was partly to blame for the retailer’s current problems.
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