LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - British baby products retailerMothercare named ex-Shop Direct boss Mark Newton-Jonesas its interim chief executive on Monday, giving the group moretime to search for a permanent leader to help revive itsstruggling UK business.
Newton-Jones, who led online retailer Shop Direct for almosta decade until July and has also held senior roles at clothingretailer Next, will join Mothercare on March 17.
He succeeds Simon Calver who quit last month after less thantwo years in the role, weeks after a profit warning showed hisplans to revive the group were faltering.
Mothercare, which makes about 70 percent of sales in the UK,has been shutting underperforming British stores and revampingothers, growing online and improving products, but the changeshave struggled to make a difference in the face of fiercecompetition from internet rivals and supermarkets.
The firm, which has 231 stores in the UK and around another1,200 in a better-performing international division, had aimedto make a profit on its British operations by 2015, but said inJanuary that 2016 to 2017 was now more realistic.
Shares in Mothercare, which have fallen 40 percent in threemonths, were up 0.4 percent to 236.25 pence at 1218 GMT.