Euan Sutherland, chief executive of parent AS Watson’s UK health and beauty business, will leave to head the UK operations for DIY giant Kingfisher, while finance director Neil Page has resigned after 17 years with the company.
A Superdrug spokeswoman said Sutherland’s replacement will be revealed in the next few weeks and the strategy for the business will not change. “Euan will not leave until he has handed over to his successor and he leaves the business in good shape,” she said.
Sutherland is just three years into a five-year plan to take on rivals Boots and Tesco, but Superdrug is understood to have found recent trading challenging.
AS Watson parent Hutchison Whampoa posted a revenue rise of 11 per cent in its retail division to HK$110.01 billion (£7.13 billion) for the year to December 31, but said the “improved results were partially offset by lower results from the health and beauty businesses in the UK”.
Allegra Strategies project director Steve Gotham said: “Superdrug is not facing any new challenges, but Boots’ return to form has placed it under renewed pressure.”
Last year, Superdrug gave 440 stores a beauty facelift and opened 12 next-generation pink-fascia shops. This year, it plans to revamp a further 291 stores and its pink stores are expected to appear in every major city.
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