Brown Group Regulatory News (BWNG)

14 March 2013

N Brown Group

NON-EXECUTIVE BOARD APPOINTMENTS

N Brown today announces the appointment of three new non-executive directors, representing a further step towards renewing the composition and independence of the Board, as well as a significant move towards compliance with best practice in corporate governance. They will all join the Board with effect from 1 April 2013.

Ron McMillan has spent his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), and before taking on his current role of Deputy Chairman of its Middle East business, he was its Northern Regional Chairman in the UK. He brings extensive UK corporate experience, having been for many years a UK Board member at PwC and Senior Audit Partner to a wide range of PLC clients, including a number of large retailers. He will join the Audit Committee, and succeed John McGuire as Chair of Audit later this year. He will also succeed Ivan Fallon as Senior Independent Director (SID).

Simon Patterson is a Managing Director at Silver Lake, a leading investment firm focused on the global technology industry with a variety of current and past investments in internet businesses. In this role he is responsible for originating and managing investments in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and has held Board positions at Gerson Lehrman Group, MultiPlan, Skype and Intelsat. His extensive knowledge of digital media and e-commerce will be of great value to the Board as the Company continues to grow its online presence (currently representing over 53% of sales). Simon will Chair the Nominations Committee.

Fiona Laird is currently a Senior Vice President of Human Resources at Unilever PLC. Originally from Glasgow, and a lawyer by training, Fiona has served in numerous human resources, compensation & benefits, labour relations, communications and change management roles globally for Unilever since joining the company in 1991. Fiona will become Chair of the Remuneration Committee.

They will join Anna Ford, who has been on the Board as an independent non-executive director since March 2009. The Board is grateful to Anna for her help in putting together this new team and pleased that she will remain on the Board for the next stage of its development.

These appointments follow the recent announcement that Angela Spindler will succeed Alan White as Chief Executive Officer this summer, following his decision to retire. Alan will retire, as planned, during the second half of the current year. Together with the appointment of Andrew Higginson as Chairman in September last year, these changes represent a very significant evolution of the Board. 

John McGuire, who completes nine years on the Board this month, has kindly agreed to remain on the Board until March 2014 to help with continuity and with the handover of his responsibilities.

Ivan Fallon, who has served on the Board for nineteen years, has also agreed to stay on for the same reason. Having served for such a length of time, Ivan is not considered to be an independent non-executive director under the provisions of the UK Corporate Governance Code and, as a consequence, will relinquish his roles as Chair of Remuneration and as SID. However, he will remain on the Board where his great knowledge of the Company will be invaluable to the new team. The Board is grateful to him for his continued support.

After nearly 42 years service, Lord Alliance of Manchester also remains on the Board to help and advise throughout the transition. Like Ivan, he cannot be considered independent but with these new appointments, the Board now has a majority of independent non-executive directors.

 Andrew Higginson, Chairman commented:

'I am delighted that Ron, Simon and Fiona will be joining the business. It is important, given the growing scale, breadth and sophistication of the Group that we look to enhance the diversity and experience of the Board as well as comply with best practice in corporate governance. Together with Anna Ford, I believe we will have a strong group of independent non-executive directors who will complement the executive team at N Brown and form a great leadership team to take the business forward.'

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Notes for Editors

N Brown Group is a leading multi-channel retailer headquartered in Manchester employing over 3.200 people. The company's strategy has been to focus each of the brands in its portfolio towards niche markets which are poorly served on the high street, such as the plus size and more mature customer segments. Online sales now represent over 53% of total revenue. Current brands include Simply Be (UK and USA), Jacamo, Fashion World, JD Williams, Marisota, House of Bath, Figleaves, Gray & Osbourn and High and Mighty. The Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: BWNG) and is a constituent of the FTSE250.