Budget retailer Pepco group has announced some major boardroom changes in order “to support accelerated transformation and focus on value creation”.
The owner of Pepco, Poundland and Dealz said non-executive chair Andy Bond has decided to step down from the role on the completion of the AGM in March after some 13 years with the group, but he’ll continue as a non-executive director.
The announcement preceded news that Poundland’s managing director in the UK, Austin Cooke, has left the discount chain shortly after ex-MD Barry Williams returned to take a seat on its board.
That news hasn’t been formally confirmed but was first reported by Retail gazette.
Cooke had become MD in autumn 2023 having moved from Pepco’s European operations. Williams is overseeing a comprehensive assessment on both Poundland and the Irish Dealz chain.
In its official announcement of its boardroom changes, Pepco added that Bond’s decision to step down comes “at a time when the core Pepco business has returned to good financial health”, although there’s no denying that the UK-based Poundland business continues to face major challenges as its latest management change highlights.
It said the board “would like to express their appreciation to Andy for his service as chair” and that he’ll be succeeded by Frederick Arnold, currently an independent non-executive director who joined the board in June 2024.
Arnold is a financial specialist with lots of experience in the UK and US and has served on the boards of a number of non-retail businesses. He began his career in banking.
Also, as part of the updated relationship agreement with the company, its majority shareholder, IBEX Topco Ltd “will have the right to recommend for nomination the chairs of the board and the remuneration committee as long as IBEX holds over 30% of the voting rights in the company’s stock”.
Pepco will in future have a smaller board with the resignation of non-executive director Maria Fernanda Mejia and executive director and CFO Neil Galloway, resulting in a board comprised of one executive director and seven non-executive directors.
It also announced the appointment of Willem Eelman as CFO. He’s “a highly experienced European CFO including 11 years with GrandVision and previous roles at C&A Europe and Unilever”.
Most of the changes will become effective as of the AGM on 12 March but Eelman joins this week, although he officially becomes CFO from the end of the upcoming AGM.
The company also said it intends to implement some “complementary governance changes to increase both the focus on and pace of value creation. These changes include creating enhanced alignment between stakeholder best interests and longer-term value creation via the introduction of multi-year equity grants as part of overall remuneration for senior leadership and non-executive directors”.
And CEO Stephan Borchert, along with Eelman and the management team will host a Capital Markets Day on 6 March, during which they’ll update on their strategic plans including “building on the momentum with the Pepco and Dealz businesses and a comprehensive assessment of Poundland and how to improve its trading performance”.
Miner Anglo American‘s diamond unit De Beers said on Monday it had finalised negotiations with the Botswana government for a new rough diamond sales agreement and extended mining licences for its joint venture beyond 2029.
Debswana, a 50:50 joint venture between top diamond producer Botswana and De Beers, currently sells 75% of its output to De Beers.
In 2023, Botswana and De Beers agreed to a fresh 10-year diamond sales deal, under which the government’s share of diamonds from the Debswana JV will increase to 30% and gradually rise to 50% over the decade.
However, this agreement was never signed under the leadership of former president Mokgweetsi Masisi.
On January 23, Botswana’s new President Duma Boko said he hoped to clinch a long-delayed sales pact with De Beers soon.
In addition, Boko said talks aimed at increasing Botswana’s ownership stake in De Beers – currently at 15% – were “going well”.
Anglo American is seeking to divest De Beers as part of a broader restructuring plan aimed at refocusing its operations on copper and iron ore mining.
The duo of Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have renewed their contracts for a further five years as the creative directors of the fashion house they founded.
The designers and OTB Group – the main holding company of Italian fashion entrepreneur Renzo Rosso, which controls the Dutch fashion house – broke the news in a joint statement released on Monday.
Based in Amsterdam, Viktor & Rolf founded their Haute Couture maison in 1993. They became part of the OTB Group in 2008.
“Viktor and Rolf are two unique voices in the world of international fashion, couturiers who have revolutionized the very concept of Haute Couture, and everything they do is art. I am very happy to continue the collaboration with them, their talent will continue to inspire and amaze the fashion world,” said Rosso, Chairman and founder of the OTB Group.
Added Horsting and Snoeren: “Within an ever-changing fashion landscape of brands and designers, we are proud to continue our singular artistic path of 30 plus years.”
Despite reports of occasional friction between the duo and the OTB Group due to designers’ hyper conceptual approach, the renewal was not unexpected. However, it comes in the wake of the departure from the OTB Group’s most acclaimed designer John Galliano, who left Maison Margiela after almost a decade in the autumn. Departing despite staging the most acclaimed couture show in fashion this past decade in January 2024.
With Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren, their maison became a one-of-a-kind success in the world of Haute Couture, creating collections that represent various nuances and forms of their artistic expression.
In the release, OTB Group lauded the duo’s constant exploration of “the borderland between art and fashion, constantly reinventing and reshaping the very concept of Haute Couture.”
Their memorable collections include Haute Couture Spring Summer 2019 – Fashion Statements, entirely made of colored tulle; Haute Couture Spring Summer 2022 – Surreal Shoulder, characterized by extreme, distorted, and elongated silhouettes. While Haute Couture Spring Summer 2023 – Late Stage Capitalism Waltz, defied the laws of gravity with surrealist garments worn upside down, sideways, perpendicularly, and away from the body; and Haute Couture Spring Summer 2024 – Scissorhands, was a collection born to explore the creative and decorative possibilities of a pair of tailor’s scissors.
While with OTB, Viktor & Rolf have also developed women’s collections of demi-couture inspiration; bridalwear with Viktor & Rolf Marriage; and eyewear collections with Viktor & Rolf Vision.
The duo have also built a highly successful fragrance business with a licensing agreement with L’Oréal Luxe, boasting such as worldwide bestsellers as Flowerbomb, Spicebomb and Good Fortune.
The vision and the artistic creations of Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren have been celebrated in countless international exhibitions, including “Camp: Notes of Fashion” at the MET Museum, “Viktor&Rolf Fashion Artists” at the Kunsthal in Rotterdam, “Viktor&Rolf: MetaFashion!” at the Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shenzhen,” Viktor&Rolf par Viktor&Rolf : Première Décennie” at the Musée de la Mode et du Textile, “ The House of Viktor&Rolf” at the Barbican Art Gallery, and “Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Artists” at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
On the occasion of the brand’s 30th anniversary, one hundred of their most iconic pieces were showcased in the exhibition “Viktor&Rolf: Fashion Statements” at the Kunsthalle in Munich. Some of their dresses were also selected as the protagonists and symbols of the exhibition “Memorabile. Ipermoda.” still ongoing at the MAXXI National Museum of 21st Century Arts in Rome, in collaboration with the National Chamber of Italian Fashion.
Hong Kong’s December retail sales by value fell by 9.7% from a year earlier, reflecting the impact of residents’ increased outbound trips during the holidays, government data showed on Monday.
Sales fell to HK$32.8 billion ($4.21 billion), a tenth month of declines after a 7.3% drop in November.
“The near-term performance of the retail sector would continue to be affected by the change in consumption patterns of visitors and residents,” a government spokesman said, adding various measures by Beijing to boost the mainland economy and the Hong Kong government’s efforts to promote tourism would boost sentiment.
Sales fell despite a rise in tourist numbers, as shoppers spent less and fewer visitors from mainland China stayed over.
In volume terms, December retail sales fell 11.5% from a year earlier, compared with a revised 8.4% decline in November.
For the whole of 2024, total retail sales value decreased 7.3% compared to the same period in 2023, while the volume of total retail sales fell 9.0%, according to provisional estimates.
China eased visa restrictions for Shenzhen residents visiting Hong Kong effective Dec. 1. December visitor arrivals stood at 4.26 million, up 8.3% from the same month a year ago, data from the Hong Kong Tourism Board showed. That compared to 3.57 million in November, 4.09 million in October and 3.06 million in September.
The number of mainland Chinese visitors stood at 3.10 million in December, up 5.2% from a year ago. That compared to 2.56 million in November, 3.14 million in October and 2.29 million in September.
For the whole of 2024, total visitor arrivals stood at 44.5 million, up 30.9% from 2023. Sales of jewellery, watches, clocks and valuable gifts fell 13.8% in December year-on-year after a 4.2% decline in November.
Sales of clothing, footwear and allied products dropped 10.2% in December after a 5.2% decline in November.