New Look‘s Chairman, Paul Mason, will reportedly step down from his role at the high street fashion giant, following its £2bn takeover by private investment firm Brait.
Mason, a retail veteran, was formerly Chief Executive at grocers Asda and Somerfield (credited for the latter‘s turnaround). He started his career at Mars before joining B&Q and has also held senior positions at Matalan and Levi Strauss. He joined New Look in 2012 and is currently chairing lifestyle brand Cath Kidston. According to Sky News, he is poised to leave New Look shortly.
The His departure would come after the fast fashion chain was taken over by the equity vehicle of Christo Wiese, a South African billionaire.
Last week‘s sale of New Looks saw its former investment partners Apax and Permira exit the business after more than a decade as shareholders.
It is understood that Brait asked Mason to stay with New Look but he is now looking elsewhere so as to pursue other hands-on chairmanship roles.
New Look trades from over 800 stores in 21 countries and, as cited by Kantar Worldpanel, is the UK’s second-biggest women’s value clothing and accessories retailer.
