Hobbs chief executive Meg Lustman is due to step down from the business amid a major senior reshuffle at its parent company.
The Foschini Group (TFG) which acquired Hobbs in 2017 and also owns Whistles, Phase Eight and G-Star Raw, said Lustman was set to depart to explore non-executive opportunities.
Whistles current managing director Justin Hampshire, who has held the role for two years, will take on her role as Hobbs’ boss in January.
Meanwhile Whistles’ brand director Helen Williamson will be promoted to managing director in Hamshire’s place, having joined the fashion brand in February 2015 as commercial director before being promoted a year later.
Elsewhere former House of Fraser fashion buying and merchandising director Simon Pickering will be appointed to lead Phase Eight, taking over from TFG’s London boss Ben Barnett who is currently running it.
The senior reshuffle comes amid TPG’s interim sales figures, in which it reported a 2.3 per cent rise in like-for-like sales.
House of Fraser’s decline into administration meant the group was hit with a £2.5 million loss meaning EBITDA dropped from £14.8 million to £13.7 million, however excluding this it rose to £16.2 million.
“Since the acquisition of Phase Eight in 2015, we have invested in building strong foundations for long term growth and are pleased to see the results of this in our first half figures,” TFG’s chief executive Anthony Thunstrom said.
“As such, despite the well documented challenges to the UK market, we look forward to the future with optimism.”
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
