Kate Bostock to quit Asos after seven months
KATE Bostock, the former head of clothing at Marks and Spencer, has quit her new employer Asos after just seven months at the online retailer.
In a surprise statement yesterday, Bostock, who was executive director for product and trading, said she had concluded that “Asos isn’t the right place for me”.
Nick Robertson, the founder and chief executive, added they had both agreed that Asos was “not the right platform for her talent”.
“Of course we are disappointed that things haven’t worked out and Kate leaves with our very best wishes,” Robertson said.
Bostock’s abrupt departure is a blow for Asos, which courted the fashion highflyer for a year while she was at M&S as it sought an executive to steer the firm’s next growth phase.
Her exit also confirmed concerns expressed by some analysts at the time as to whether she would fit into the online retailer’s culture.
“It was a very short-lived marriage but it seems to be that on both sides the relationship didn’t work out as both would have hoped,” Neil Saunders, managing director of retail analyst Conlumino, said.
“Although logically it should have worked, practically the relationship didn’t work quite as well because the businesses that she is used to working in are very different to the fast-moving Asos model.”
Bostock, who will leave with immediate effect, joined the firm in January after eight years at M&S. She had previously worked as product director for Asda’s George brand and also ran Next’s childrenswear division.
Shares closed down 1.5 per cent.