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Next's Lord Wolfson to take up chair's role at Reiss

Lauretta Roberts
20 May 2021

Next CEO Lord Simon Wolfson is to take over the chair's role at Reiss after the high street chain bought a 25% stake in the premium fashion retailer earlier this year.

Wolfson will take over the role from Reiss founder David Reiss, who established the business 50 years ago, The Telegraph has reported.

Reiss CEO is Christos Angelides who spent nearly 30 years at Next before briefly heading to the US to be president of Abercrombie & Fitch. He returned to the UK and took over as CEO at Reiss in 2017.

Next has an option to buy a further 26% stake in Reiss before July 2022, which would, if exercised, make it the majority shareholder (investor Warburg Pincus bought a controlling stake in Reiss in 2016, with the Reiss family retaining a minority holding). Next's initial investment totalled £43m comprising an equity investment of £33m and a debt investment of £10m.

As part of the agreement, Reiss will transition its online platform, warehouse, distribution and logistics to the Next Total Platform, where Reiss can benefit from Next’s extensive infrastructure capabilities and can serve as a launch pad for Reiss’s growth plans, both in the UK, and overseas. It is anticipated Reiss will go live on Next’s Total Platform in February 2022.

Reiss will retain its management autonomy and creative independence, and will continue to have its own independent board of directors and be headquartered in London.

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