Ted Baker gives Rachel Osborne permanent CEO job

(Sharecast News) - Ted Baker has appointed Rachel Osborne as chief executive with a brief to turn around the embattled clothes retailer's fortunes.
Osborne joined Ted Baker in November and was made acting CEO in December. The company has been in turmoil since founder Ray Kelvin was forced to quit a year ago over allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards employees.

After Kelvin's departure Ted Baker issued a series of profit warnings that exposed a £58m accounting error. Chairman David Bernstein and former CEO Lindsay Page, a longtime associate of Kelvin, quit in December.

Osborne, who joined as finance director from Debenhams, has overseen 160 job cuts and the sale and leaseback of Ted Baker's London head office since taking over. She has more than 20 years' experience at brands such as Domino's Pizza, John Lewis and Kingfisher.

Sharon Baylay, Ted Baker's acting chair, said: "Rachel has already made a significant contribution to Ted Baker, working tirelessly in recent months to develop a transformation plan for the business. She has brought hugely relevant retail and customer experience and is ideally positioned to lead Ted Baker's turnaround in the future."

Osborne's appointment failed to win a vote of confidence from shareholders. Having lost about three-quarters of their value in 2020, the shares fell 11% to a record low of 107.43p at 13:32 BST.

Ted Baker said Baylay would continue to chair the company while it looks for a replacement for Bernstein. Jennifer Roebuck, a non-executive director, will leave the board on 1April to take up a management position as chief customer officer.

Osborne said: "We have challenges to face into in the coming months, not least the significant uncertainty caused by Covid-19, but I am confident that we will succeed through the hard work of our colleagues and the strength of our brand."