Retail heavyweight Phil Wrigley to join Majestic as chair
MAJESTIC wine yesterday unveiled a shake-up of its board, revealing retail heavyweight Phil Wrigley, 57, as chairman-designate, replacing Simon Burke who has been at the helm for five years.
Wrigley, who until recently was chairman of fashion retail chain New Look, has also held senior management roles at Debenhams, Topshop owner Arcadia and BHS.
Wrigley will join the board in April as a non-executive director and will become chairman following Burke’s retirement in August.
Burke has spent over a decade at Majestic Wine. He joined the board as a non-executive director in 2000 and stepped up to the position of non-executive chairman in 2005.
Burke is currently involved in the corporate battle at pub chain owner Mitchells & Butlers (M&B). He is one of billionaire investor Joe Lewis’ preferred candidates to join the M&B board.
Majestic chief executive Steve Lewis said: “I would like to thank Simon for the very significant contribution he has made to the success of Majestic over the last 10 years. I am looking forward to welcoming Phil to the board in April. His broad retail and property experience will be invaluable in continuing to grow the Majestic story.”
Majestic has recently benefited from the collapse of rival Threshers-owner First Quench Retailing.
Its recent trading update showed an 11.7 per cent increase in sales over the nine weeks to 4 January.
Sales of champagne rose by 10 per cent over the period.