// Sweaty Betty chief executive and chief operating officer are leaving the sportswear retailer
// Both will step down from the business in the summer while the search for successors is currently underway
Sweaty Betty chief executive Julia Straus and chief operating officer Mark Smith will be departing the business, Drapers reveals.
Their departures come after the sportswear retailer was bought by US-based lifestyle footwear group Wolverine Worldwide for almost £300m in August 2021.
Straus and Smith will step down from the business in the summer while the search for successors is currently underway.
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A statement said: “Sweaty Betty confirms that after five years at Sweaty Betty, and growing the business threefold, CEO Julia Straus has taken the tough decision to leave the company to enable her to move back to the United States with her husband later this year and raise their daughters closer to family.
“Julia will continue in the role until June, playing a key part in selecting her successor, and will also be actively involved in the handover period beyond that to ensure a seamless transition period.
“COO Mark Smith has also decided that this year is the right time to leave Sweaty Betty to pursue new opportunities. Mark joined the business in 2011 and has overseen a retail expansion of the brand from 15 stores to 90 plus stores in that time, and a tenfold growth in revenue.
“Mark will also stay in position over the summer to oversee the interview process for his successor and an extremely smooth transition overall.”
Straus took up the helm of Sweaty Betty in June 2019, after joining in July 2018 as managing director.
Before Sweaty Betty she was chief executive at the skincare brand Tula for three years.
Smith took the position of chief operating officer at the sportswear retailer in September 2018 and was previously managing director and finance director at Vietnamese restaurant chain Pho.
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