THE WHAT? ASOS has announced a series of changes to its board and the departure of CEO Nick Beighton.

THE DETAILS Beighton’s successor is yet to be announced and, while the search is in progress, CFO Mat Dunn will take on the role of Chief Operating Officer while Katy Mecklenburgh will be Interim Chief Financial Officer, effective immediately.  

Beighton will remain available to the board until the end of the year to ensure a smooth transition.

In addition, Ian Dyson has been named Non-Executive Chair of the Board, effective November 21, 2021, and Jorgen Lindemann is joining the board as Non-Executive Director from November 1, 2021.

Separately, ASOS announced its results for the year to August 31, 2021, reporting sales growth of 36 percent in the UK.

THE WHY? ASOS said the changes were designed to ‘put in place the leadership to underpin delivery of the next phase of its global growth strategy’. What it didn’t say is that, with supply chain pressures mounting and shopping behaviour shifting once more as lockdowns recede, the online fashion retailer is bracing for a drop in sales and profit.

Adam Crozier commented, “Over the last three years we have made significant progress, delivering 60 percent growth in revenues, improved profitability and a strengthened balance sheet; we have bolstered the management team and improved ASOS’s operational capabilities and resilience. At the same time, however, we recognise that there is more to do to accelerate the pace and intensity of commercial execution.

“ASOS’s management and board have spent considerable time over recent months developing and validating a clear strategic plan to accelerate international growth, building on ASOS’s undoubted strength in the UK. This will allow ASOS to deliver against the ambition to be one of the few truly global leaders in online fashion retail. Key to that is ensuring that we have the right leadership in place for the next phase, and the changes we are announcing today are designed to ensure we deliver against our clear strategic intent.

“On behalf of the Board, I want to thank Nick Beighton, who has played a pivotal role in the development of ASOS over the past 12 years and we wish him well for the future. The Board is delighted that Mat has agreed to become COO and that Ian will Chair ASOS for the next three years. ASOS is a business with a very exciting future, and I am confident that it will deliver against its ambitions.”