Brown Group Regulatory News (BWNG)

 19 February 2018

N BROWN GROUP PLC ANNOUNCES APPOINTMENT OF NEW CHAIRMAN

N Brown, the online, specialist fit, fashion retailer, today announces the appointment of Matt Davies as Non-Executive Director and Chairman Elect with immediate effect. Matt will assume the role of Chairman from 1st May 2018. He will succeed Andrew Higginson who will retire from the Board on that date.

Andrew Higginson, said: "We are delighted to welcome Matt Davies to N Brown. Matt is a first-class retailer and brings a wealth of experience to the Group. He has a proven track record of value creation across retail and online through his roles as CEO of Tesco UK and ROI and as CEO of Halfords and Pets at Home.  It has been a privilege to chair the company through the past five years, and I wish the business every success in the coming years."

Matt Davies said: "I am delighted and excited to be taking on this role. I am really looking forward to working with Angela, her team and my fellow Non-Executive Directors to further develop and grow the N Brown business."

Senior Independent Director Ron McMillan, who led the selection process, said: "Having conducted a thorough process it was clear that Matt was the best fit to be our next Chair. He has huge experience of retail and online businesses and will be a strong addition to the N Brown board, bringing knowledge, leadership and customer focus. On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Andy for his considerable help and guidance over the past 5 years and wish him well going forward."

Notes to editors:

Matt Davies biography

Matt is currently CEO of Tesco UK and ROI, a role he will leave at the end of April 2018 having been appointed in May 2015. He has successfully led the turnaround of the UK business which now enters a new phase with the proposed merger with Booker plc.

Prior to Tesco, Matt was CEO of Halfords from 2012 to 2015 and Finance Director (2001 - 2004) and CEO (2004 - 2012) of Pets at Home.

For further information:

About N Brown Group:

An expert in fashion that fits and flatters, N Brown is one of the UK's leading digital retailers. Its key retail brands are JD Williams, Simply Be and Jacamo. It offers an extensive range of products, predominantly clothing, footwear and homewares. N Brown is all about democratising fashion and is size inclusive, focusing on the needs of underserved customer groups - size 20+ and age 50+.

N Brown is headquartered in Manchester where it designs, sources and creates its product offer, and employs over 2,600 people across the UK.