ASOS creates key MD roles as CEO radically restructures leadership

Fashion e-tail giant ASOS on Wednesday unveiled a radical plan to restructure its business with some big leadership changes including an MD for the UK and US and another covering Europe and the rest of the world. Through all the numerous changes, there’s a clear theme of bringing commercial and customer functions together.

CEO José Antonio Ramos Calamonte’s aim is to create a more joined-up business that has the customer’s needs at its heart. Decision-making should be accelerated and continuous innovation and improvement will be a core focus.

The 25-year-old company also said it has “significantly” reduced its stock levels, as well as improving its product and refinancing debt. That stock levels issue is a key point given how much surplus stock the company held in recent years.

The retailer, which currently has 20 million active customers in more than 200 markets, said the changes are expected to take effect from April.

So, what are the key leadership moves that have been announced? Importantly, the company has expanded Vanessa Spence’s role from executive vice-president of creative. With the firm since 2007, she steps up from ‘only’ leading the design and creative direction for all its owned brands to become EVP brand and creative. That’s a crucial move as it sees its brand and creative strategy coming together.

There there’s the aforementioned creation of MDs for the firm’s key regions. Current VP North America Sean Trend is becoming MD for the UK and US, which is a new role. And its SVP operations Jag Weatherley becomes MD for Europe and the rest-of-world region.

Meanwhile, Michelle Wilson, previously chief of staff and strategy, is now MD of Topshop and Topman and leading a dedicated cross-functional team to ensure the brands prosper as standalone since they were sold last autumn. The brands are now majority owned by Heartland, the holding company of major ASOS shareholder and Bestseller owner Anders Holch Povlsen. But ASOS retains a minority stake and continues to sell the high-profile labels. 

Wilson will also be in charge of the ASOS global wholesale division, that takes in its American partnership with Nordstrom in the US, its Indian one with Reliance Retail, and its European one with Bestseller.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that highly experienced Zalando’s software engineering VP Przemek Czarnecki joined ASOS earlier in February as its EVP technology. That role had been held by interim EVP Hugh Williams.

And that’s not the end of the changes. To “better align strategic decision-making and communication”, EVP people experience Ras Vaghjiani’s role is also expanding to become EVP people, communications and strategy. And supporting Vaghjiani will be Rishi Sharma, promoted from interim general counsel and company secretary to SVP corporate affairs and strategy.

The business is also creating product development teams (PDTs) with a focus on strategic priorities such as loyalty and Test & React with each team having an engineering lead partnered with a product manager. It comes as the firm has radically boosted its team of software engineers and product managers.

CEO José Antonio Ramos Calamonte called the news “an exciting new chapter for ASOS” that will better equip it for speedy growth.

The changes come as it fights back from a tough period that has seen its results (and its share price) declining sharply.