Agent Provocateur chairman Chris Woodhouse has left the company amid an accounting inquiry.
Sky News has reported that Woodhouse, who is chief executive of the RAC, will hand his position to Ian Lobley who is a partner at the lingerie brand‘s controlling shareholder 3i. Woodhouse will remain as a non-executive director on the company‘s board.
The departure and further boardroom reshuffle comes amid uneven trading reports from the retailer, which states it has been hit by declining luxury spend and luke-warm trading in its recent store expansion programme.
READ MORE: Agent Provocateur CEO a bad fit for sales plans
An accounting inquiry is also underway after reports of “accounting issues”. Although it is not clear what the details of these may be, sources told Sky News they could relate to a possible overstatement of profits.
These issues have reportedly lead to the retailer‘s value dropping by £39 million. 3i will pump another £4 million into the business and put in place a new management team in an attempt to turn the fortunes of the struggling luxury retailers around.
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