Missguided: CEO steps down as fashion firm hires Teneo advisors
Online fashion retailer Missguided has said its founder will step down as CEO as it mulls options for its future.
Nitin Passi has chosen to step aside as head of the company as the fashion firm has recruited advisors from Teneo to probe “strategic options” for its future.
According to RetailWeek, Missguided is searching for a partner to provide new infrastructure for the business.
A spokesperson for the firm said there had been “significant progress in addressing stock issues, streamlining warehouse operations and reducing head office costs.”
This meant the retailer was now “in a position to accelerate its plans to find a strategic partner with the infrastructure and platform to deliver the next stage in its turnaround and maximise its potential.”
Missguided was now “on a sounder footing in a very short space of time,” after new investment at the end of last year, trade publication Drapers quoted Missguided chair Ian Gray as saying.
He added: “Missguided is one of the most vibrant brands in young women’s fashion and that’s down to more than a decade of hard work by Nitin.
“I recognise it’s never easy for founders to decide to step away from day-to-day leadership of the businesses they create, but I respect Nitin’s decision and look forward to his continued guidance as a member of the holding company board.”
Passi will remain on the retailer’s holding company board to represent his family’s ongoing stake in the business.
A senior analyst from Edison Group told CityA.M.: “The review of its business structure launched by Missguided at the end of last year has reached what is probably its natural conclusion with the departure of CEO Nitin Passi and job cuts. Missguided has been hit hard by a combination of supply chain issues, rising cost inflation and weakening consumer demand.
“Chinese retailers, such as Shein, have been undercutting prices and the market has become increasingly competitive. The sale of 50 per cent to Alteri Investors helped with its liquidity issues but its most recent set of accounts show pre-tax losses of £8.2m.
“Missguided is set to file its next set of accounts by the end of June. These could signal how viable the company is and how likely Teneo is to find a strategic partner, on which Missguided’s future likely depends.”