Blacks chief executive Neil Gillis, who was drafted in last November from health and fitness chain Esporta, has created a scheme that allows the executives to share in a£4 million windfall if they hit undisclosed targets and the share price reaches a specified level. The three-year scheme covers regional directors, area managers and category heads, among others, and is open to new recruits.
Blacks’ poor performance under its previous management led to a dramatic collapse in value. However, in the past three months, Blacks’ share price has jumped almost 26 per cent. The shares were trading at just under 168p this week, well above their 52-week low of 106p.
“Blacks is changing pretty quickly and part of that change is to make sure that we can attract, motivate and retain a really high quality of people,” said Gillis. “This scheme means that if shareholders see a substantial increase in the value of their investment, the people who delivered that increase will also be rewarded.”
Gillis implemented a turn-around plan when he came on board. As part of his salary package, he was granted options over 1 million shares, representing about 2.3 per cent of the issued share capital of the group. One third of the shares will be exercisable on the second, third and fourth anniversaries of his appointment, provided the share price at those dates exceeds 350p, 425p and 500p respectively.
Gillis’s turnaround plan includes cutting the cost base by£3 million this financial year, rolling out new-format Blacks and Millets stores and rationalising the product range of the group.
Gillis has cut 60 jobs at Blacks’ Northampton head office and is closing the Sandcity office in Washington, Tyne & Wear, to integrate the O’Neill brand with the rest of the business.
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