Ted Baker takes axe to executive team as four key directors exit

Retail Week has learned that the embattled fashion chain is slashing its exec board from 13 members to nine as new boss Rachel Osborne reshapes her leadership team.

Category director Rebecca Rodden, special projects director Mat Ashby and production director Donald Browne will all exit the business by the end of April as part of the restructure.

The departures of long-serving duo Rodden and Browne bring an end to stints that have lasted 21 and 29 years respectively.

Director of business process Steven Rickards is also set to leave the company, but will stay on until the summer to help drive Ted Baker’s transformation plan.

A Ted Baker spokeswoman told Retail Week: “A new executive board structure was announced earlier this week, aimed at supporting the transformation of the business and further development of the brand.”

The changes come as Ted Baker grapples to restore its fortunes following a wretched 2019.

Founder and former boss Ray Kelvin stepped down last March amid allegations of misconduct, including “forced hugging”.

His replacement, Lindsay Page, and chair David Bernstein both left the business in December after it issued its fourth profit warning in the space of just 12 months.

Osborne, who only joined Ted Baker from Debenhams as finance boss last September, was made acting chief executive in a bid to stabilise the business.

She has already appointed Jennifer Roebuck to the newly created role of chief customer officer and earlier this month drafted in American fashion designer Michael Bastian as interim creative officer.

Ted Baker said in December that it now only expects to make a full-year profit of between £5m and £10m after admitting that the past year had “undoubtedly been the most challenging in our history”.

Last month it revealed that a stock overstatement, initially valued at £25m, was “materially higher” at around £58m.

Ted Baker is due to post its preliminary results next month.