Lookers seeks new chairman in board purge

(Sharecast News) - Lookers is seeking a new chairman and two more directors as part of a board clearout at the embattled car dealer.
Chairman Phil White will become executive chairman from 1 July to oversee the board transition but will leave the company when it finds a new chair. In total, five non-executive directors are due to leave in the next year.

Richard Walker, Lookers' senior independent director (SID), and Sally Cabrini, who chairs the remuneration committee, will stand down at the annual general meeting on 29 June. Heather Jackson, who joined the board in November, will take over as SID and remuneration committee chair.

Stuart Counsell, who chairs the audit and risk committee, will stay on the board until the company reports its delayed 2019 results and finds a replacement. Tony Bramall, another non-executive director, will not stand for re-election at the 2021 AGM.

The clearout follows the appointment of Mark Raban as Lookers' chief executive in February. He joined Lookers in July 2019 as chief financial officer. Lookers was already struggling with declining sales and other problems before the Covid-19 crisis shut showrooms and triggered a deep recession.

Lookers was forced to delay its annual results in March after it found potential fraud in one of its divisions. Accountant Grant Thornton is investigating the matter. Raban is cutting 1,500 jobs, representing 18.5% of the workforce, and closing 12 showrooms to cut costs after branches closed for more than two months during the coronavirus lockdown.

White said: "The group has faced many significant issues in the recent past, both externally and internally, which have been exacerbated by Covid-19. The board recognises the need to bring in new skills and experience to guide the business through the next phase of its development."

Vicky Mitchell, a non-executive director who joined in November, will become chair of Lookers Motor Group, the company's finance arm regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, on 1 July.