New Look appoints Nigel Oddy as CEO

New Look has promoted Nigel Oddy to the role of CEO and as a result of the move executive chairman Alistair McGeorge will step into the role of non-executive chair from 1 January.

Oddy, a former CEO of House of Fraser and The Range, joined New Look as chief operating officer in April of last year, while McGeorge was appointed in November 2017 indirectly replacing the retailer's last CEO Anders Kristiansen.

McGeorge, who had previously led New Look through a period of recover in 2011, was drafted back in by South African owner Brait to work on a turnaround and financial restructuring of the young fashion retailer.

He said the time was right to appoint a new CEO in Oddy: “With the financial restructuring and customer strategy review complete, and as we focus on our retailing excellence, now is the right time for Nigel to become New Look’s CEO and for me to assume a Non-Executive role in my capacity as Chairman. New Look is a great brand with an exciting future, and I look forward to continuing to support, encourage and challenge Nigel and the wider team.

“Nigel has been running the business operationally since he joined us and in a short space of time has made significant improvements to our buying, product, supply chain and omnichannel offer. As I have said before, his experience will be a great asset as we continue our transformation, which I am confident we are well positioned to deliver.”

Oddy said of his appointment: “I am delighted to be appointed CEO at such a pivotal moment in New Look’s development. Since joining the business earlier this year, we have focused on strengthening our operational foundations. We have already taken decisive steps to broaden the appeal of our product, enhance the customer journey and improve our lead times.

"Following the successful financial restructuring, we have also been able to strengthen our leadership and begin to invest prudently in the business again. I look forward to continue working with Alistair and the Board, and leading the wider team of 15,000 colleagues, as we continue to build on New Look’s distinctive offer and strong customer heritage.”

New Look, which is trading under a CVA, recently announced that it had slashed a £41.9 million loss in the first half of the 2019 financial year to £11.2 million. Under McGeorge it has been focusing on reducing its product range and focusing on lower-priced product with full-price sell-through.