Boden appoints Tesco veteran as new CEO
British clothing brand Boden has appointed Jill Easterbrook as its new CEO.
Easterbrook formerly worked at Tesco for 15 years, holding at different times the roles of chief customer officer, group business transformation director and managing director of clothing.
She left the company in 2016 and has been a non-executive director at Auto Trader since 2015.
Boden’s former CEO Julian Glanville will take the position of executive chairman while founder Johnnie Boden becomes creative director.
The retailer has a strong core customer base through its reputation as a “yummy mummy” favourite, and has been worn by Samantha Cameron and Michelle Obama.
Yet Boden may be in need of its new CEO’s experience as a transformation director, after reporting a 25 per cent drop in annual profits last year.
Pre-tax profits were down to £23.9m in the year to 31 December 2015 from £32m the previous year, despite a bump in sales from £280.7m to £283m. Boden's net assets also fell from £52m to £33.4m.
According to Retail Week, Easterbrook commented: “I have long been a fan and customer of Boden. I am very pleased to be joining such an exciting and dynamic brand and look forward to continuing to build on the success the business has already achieved.”