Superdry’s entire board resigns as Julian Dunkerton returns

// Mass resignations at Superdry take place following Julian Dunkerton’s reappointment to the board

// Superdry’s chairman, CEO & CFO have resigned with immediate effect

Superdry has seen its board of directors resign following the re-election of co-founder Julian Dunkerton to the senior management team yesterday.

The fashion retailer’s chairman Peter Bamford, chief executive Euan Sutherland, chief financial officer Ed Barker, and chairman of the remuneration committee Penny Hughes have all stepped down with immediate effect.

Dunkerton has been appointed interim chief executive and former Boohoo boss Peter Williams has been appointed as chairman.

Dunkerton won the proxy votes cast ahead of a shareholder meeting yesterday with a narrow majority – 50.75 per cent voted in favour of his return, while Williams gained 50.74 per cent of proxy votes in his favour.

Non-executive directors Dennis Millard, Minnow Powell, Sarah Wood and John Smith have given three months’ notice and will leave July 1.

Superdry brokers UBS and Investec have also quit.

Meanwhile, group general counsel and company secretary Simon Callander has remained on the board.

Dunkerton and Williams said: “We are very pleased to be joining the board of this great British company. We look forward to rebuilding the Superdry brand and the business.”

Dunkerton left Superdry in March 2018 but retained 18 per cent of shares in the business.

He had been grabbing headlines in recent months for being a vocal critic of Superdry’s lacklustre financial performance, blaming the profit warnings on heavy discounting and poor management decisions.

However, Superdry’s now-former management team placed the blame on Dunkerton for its problems, saying they stemmed back to when he was still on the board.

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