Burberry bolsters leadership team with two promotions

Burberry has appointed Matteo Calonaci as Chief Operating & Supply Chain Officer, and Johnattan Leon as Chief Customer Officer, both reporting directly to Burberry CEO Joshua Schulman.

Calonaci is currently Senior Vice President of Strategy & Transformation at Burberry. In his new role, he will be responsible for overseeing supply chain and planning, strategy and transformation, and data and analytics.

He will succeed Klaus Bierbrauer, currently Burberry Supply Chain & Industrial Officer, who will be leaving the company following a transition period.

Leon currently serves as Burberry’s Senior Vice President of Commercial and Chief of Staff. As Chief Customer Officer, he will lead Burberry’s customer, client engagement, customer service and retail excellence teams, while overseeing Burberry’s digital, outlet and commercial operations.

Joshua Shulman said: "Today’s appointments reflect the exceptional talent and leadership we have at Burberry. Both Matteo and Johnattan have been instrumental in strengthening our focus on executional excellence and elevating our customer experience.

"Their deep understanding of our business, our people and our customers gives me full confidence that their leadership will help drive Burberry forward."

Last month Burberry reported its first sales rise in two years, as turnaround efforts also helped the luxury fashion label cut half-year losses.

The group said comparable same store sales lifted 2% in its second quarter and remained flat overall in the first half, compared with a 20% plunge a year earlier.

It reported pre-tax losses of £48 million for the six months to 27 September, against losses of £80 million in the same period the previous year.

On an underlying earnings basis, it swung to a £19 million operating profit from losses of £41 million a year ago.