Managers exit Adams as new chief recruited

Adams Childrenswear has parted company with its entire management team and recruited former Boxfresh chairman David Carter-Johnson as chief executive.

Existing chief executive Dean Murray, managing director Patrick Woodall and group finance director Clive Drysdale will leave the retailer next month, just two months after Adams was acquired by chairman John Shannon.

Carter-Johnson was managing director of Adams in the 1990s and was managing director of Foster Menswear in the 1980s. He was also linked to a bid for Mothercare in 2002.

Shannon has embarked on an overhaul of the Adams business and will focus on adding value to its ranges with better-quality fabrics and improved designs to help it compete with the supermarkets. He is mid-way through a strategic review, which is expected to be completed within the next four weeks.

Woodall will not be replaced. Julie McBride will continue as finance director of Adams.

Murray, Woodall and Drysdale will remain directors of Myriad Childrenswear and TU Childrenswear, which were part of the same group as Adams, but were unaffected by its sale to Shannon.