A scion of the billionaire Brenninkmeijer dynasty behind clothing retail giant CA is the new chief executive officer of a private equity firm backed by the billionaire family that’s seeking to expand their empire.
Jens Brenninkmeyer is Bregal’s new CEO – Bregal Investments- Linkedin
Jens Brenninkmeyer, 38, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. banker and Sixth Street executive, starts next month in the top role at Bregal Investments after serving as the buyout firm’s chief strategy officer since 2023, according to a statement Tuesday.
He previously led a review of Bregal’s operations and also oversaw new deal activity across its strategies, ranging from buying stakes directly in companies to allocations for private equity funds, according to the statement from Cofra Holding, which oversees the Brenninkmeijers’ major assets.
Bregal is one of the driving forces behind the Brenninkmeijers’ push to open their business empire to more outside investors as they expand beyond CA, the clothing retailer that traces its origins back to 1841.
Founded in 2002, Bregal now has about €19 billion ($22 billion) in assets under management and recently established a new strategy to invest in secondary markets led by Luis Cabrera, who joined in October. Based in London and New York, Bregal opened to external capital in 2016, a year after the family’s real estate arm, Redevco, made a similar move.
Cofra oversees assets totaling more than €35 billion, with other divisions including an asset-management arm that opened to external capital from foundations and other long-term investors four years ago.
“From 2026 onwards, our goal is to accelerate growth and diversification by launching more strategies,” Boudewijn Beerkens, Cofra’s CEO, said in a separate statement.
Jens, a German native and sixth-generation family member, will be based in New York but spend at least a week each month in London, according to a person familiar with the matter. The firm is also seeking to participate in more co-investment opportunities, the person said, who asked not to be identified as the details are private.
Bregal’s latest appointment follows the recent departure of Goldman Sachs veteran Alain Carrier as CEO, while Ryan Selwood died in 2024 after becoming chief investment officer the previous year. The firm last year hired a veteran of direct lender Hayfin as chief financial officer, while another family scion, Lawrence Brenninkmeyer, became Bregal’s deputy chairman.
Jens Brenninkmeyer, a Harvard Business School graduate, started his career as an analyst at Goldman and later helped to lead fintech investments for San Francisco-based alternative-assets firm Sixth Street, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“I’m pleased to step into the CEO role at a key moment,” said Brenninkmeyer, who uses a variation of the dynasty’s surname.
The Perfume Shop was up against tough year-ago comparisons when it came to its Christmas 2025 sales performance. So how did the retailer, which is a portfolio mate of Superdrug in the AS Watson empire, do? Very well, considering Christmas 2024 was deemed its “busiest ever”.
Carolina Herrera Good Girl EdP
Total sales last month delivered 1.6% year-on-year growth while selling over 1.58 million bottles of fragrance between 30 November and 24 December, the equivalent of more than 63,000 bottles a day, it noted, up 6% on a year ago.
The hottest brands? “Timeless icons”, such as Dior Sauvage, Carolina Herrera Good Girl and Chanel Coco Mademoiselle, led the fine fragrance category. Launches such as Carolina Herrera La Bomba and Prada Paradigme were also among the strongest performers of the season.
The Perfume Shop said this year’s shopping behaviours “reflected a more intentional approach to Christmas spending”.
It explained: “[While we] saw online searches begin in September, customers timed their purchases around those major deal moments they knew were worth waiting for. Interest peaked around Black Friday and again from mid-December, culminating between the 14th and 20th of December, becoming the retailer’s strongest week of the season”.
It added: “The classic last-minute rush also played a starring role”, as 23 December became the single biggest in-store trading day.
It also noted that throughout the season, shoppers “continued their shift away from multi-product promotions and instead responded best to simple price drops on single bottles or sets, a trend that has been consistent across 2025”.
Gift sets also delivered “another standout year” with overall sales increasing 4% on last year, while online demand for sets surged 62% during the peak Christmas period.
Across the full year, sets represented 16.8% of total sales, up from 15.7% in 2024, “a clear sign that customers still consider them one of the most reliable gifting choices”.
Personalisation was “another major success story”, from engraved bottles to personalised ribbons and gift messages, customers embraced bespoke touches more than ever”. Here, online personalisation services “rose significantly,” with December up 23.74% year-on-year. Individual services also saw strong growth, including 50,000 gift wraps (+84.6% on-year), 54,000 personalised ribbons (+106.8%), 21,000 engraved bottles and 3,500 custom gift messages introduced in November.
Meanwhile, Click & Collect services remained “a key part of the Christmas countdown, while Next Day Delivery again proved essential for last-minute gifting and the partnership with Deliveroo for last minute deliveries”, it added.
Camper announces the departure of its creative director, Achilles Ion Gabriel. The designer, who has been with the Mallorcan company since 2019, will step down from the creative helm of both the main brand and its more experimental line, CamperLab. As the Balearic footwear company reported on Tuesday, the last collections developed under his leadership will be for spring/ summer 2027 and will be presented at the beginning of next December.
Camper announces the departure of its creative director, Achilles Ion Gabriel. – Camper
“Achilles has played a key role in strengthening Camper’s contemporary identity and in the evolution of CamperLab, which has gone from being a footwear brand to a fashion brand,” said Miguel Fluxà, CEO of Camper. “His vision and leadership have contributed significantly to the evolution of both brands. We are grateful for his contribution and proud of what we have achieved together, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours,” the executive added.
The company said that, following the designer’s departure, the in-house team will assume the creative direction of the two labels, “ensuring the continued development of both brands going forward.”
“I am deeply grateful to Camper and CamperLab for the trust they have placed in me over the years. I would also like to thank our customers and consumers for their loyalty,” said Achilles Ion Gabriel. The Finnish-born designer assumed the role of creative director at CamperLab in 2019 with the mission of transforming a footwear-focused brand into a fashion label with a full catalogue; a year later, he also took on the same position at the flagship brand, Camper.
Founded in 1975 by the Fluxà family on the Balearic island of Mallorca, Camper is now a global footwear company. It operates a commercial network of around 350 of its own stores and is present in more than 2,500 multi-brand points of sale across around 50 markets. According to its latest available financial data, in the 2023 financial year it achieved a turnover of 225 million euros.
Trade show specialist Hyve Group has made two senior leadership appointments ahead of upcoming Spring Fair (1-4 February) and Autumn Fair (6-9 September).
Fay Tranter
Fay Tranter has joined the Spring Fair team as event director, while Matthew Mein has been appointed event director for both Glee and Autumn Fair, “reinforcing [the events’] commitment to long-term growth, strategic focus and delivering exceptional experiences for exhibitors and visitors alike”.
Tranter brings a “strong and diverse background spanning B2C and B2B events, marketing, sales and event leadership”. She has also worked in London’s West End with impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, “giving her a unique blend of commercial and creative expertise”.
Portfolio director Jackson Szabo added: “As the largest show in the UK, Spring Fair demands year-round strategic focus and dedicated leadership to unlock its full potential. But more broadly, our role is about supporting the retail industry at a time of real change. From independent retailers to major multiples, businesses are looking for inspiration, practical insight and trusted connections, and Spring Fair has a critical part to play in enabling that growth. Fay brings a fresh perspective, a wealth of experience and an infectious energy.”
Following the co-location of Autumn Fair and Glee, and with both shows “retaining their distinct identities, communities and sector focus”, Mein’s is an internal appointment that sees him add Autumn Fair to his Glee directorship, to “ensure each event continues to deliver clearly defined value for its core audiences while benefiting from closer strategic coordination”.
Matthew Mein
Mein added: “Glee and Autumn Fair together represent a huge opportunity. Bringing these communities closer will allow us to create a more connected, dynamic and impactful event experience. The growth we’re seeing now, and the strength of the 2026 pipeline, makes this an incredibly exciting time to take the next step.”
Szabo also said: “With [the shows] coming together… our ambition is to create environments that genuinely help retailers source better, plan smarter and build more resilient businesses. Matthew understands the challenges facing the industry and the importance of serving distinct communities well, and that’s exactly what we need as we look to support sustainable retail growth across the UK.”