The chief executive of Avon is poised to exit the global health and beauty retail giant in March amid investor pressure and recording another drop in quarterly sales.
Sheri McCoy joined the company — which manufactures its own products and sells directly to customers via its website and door-to-door sales — in April 2012 and launched a three-year transformation plan last year.
Part of that plan including relocating the company’s headquarters to the UK and the separation of Avon’s North America business.
However, activist investors Barington Capital Group and partner NuOrion Partners —which together have a stake of more than three per cent in Avon — have been vocal critics of turnaround plan and have been pressuring McCoy to step down since 2015.
READ MORE: Avon to relocate across the Atlantic
According to the Wall Street Journal, Barington Capital said McCoy had “overseen a tremendous destruction of shareholder value” and was not fit to manage the company.
In addition, annual sales that reached $10 billion (£7.61 billion) in 2012 are now at half those levels and are expected to drop further.
Avon’s board has retained Heidrick & Struggles, an executive search firm, to assist in finding McCoy’s replacement.
“With the successful recruitment of a senior executive team with the skill and experience to implement the next phase of our strategy, the platform is in place for a new CEO to continue accelerating the pace of change and take Avon to sustainable profitable growth,” McCoy said in a statement.
“I look forward to continuing to drive the Avon business forward and to working with our leadership team to ensure a smooth transition.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
