Fortnum & Mason chief executive Ewan Venters to step down

Venters, who has led the department store since 2012, is leaving the retailer for a role helming art gallery firm Hauser & Wirth.

The search for a successor for Venters, who held roles at Selfridges and Sainsbury’s prior to his appointment at Fortnum & Mason, is underway.

During his tenure at the luxury food specialist, Venters has spearheaded consistent profit and sales growth while driving the brand’s travel division and international expansion, as well as the overhaul of the retailer’s ecommerce offering.

Fortnum & Mason chair Kate Hobhouse said: “Ewan has been a highly successful leader of this business, delivering consistent growth in profits, extending the footprint of the brand with new stores and driving product innovation. Ewan had a vision to make our brand more relevant to more people more often and he has certainly fulfilled that. He leaves behind a business that is positioned to overcome the current difficulties of the retail sector and achieve even more success and he deserves great credit for this. I wish him all the very best in his new role.”

Venters said: “It is a tremendous wrench to leave Fortnum’s, which is truly one of the world’s great brands. I have enjoyed every minute of my time here, loved working with Kate and I have had magnificent support from my team of executives, who I know will go on to achieve more success. It is, however, time for a new challenge and I have no doubt that Fortnum’s, which has overcome all manner of difficulties in its 313-year history, is in excellent shape.”