JLH.L Regulatory News (JLH)

11 Dec 2006 15:42

John Lewis Of Hungerford PLC11 December 2006 John Lewis of Hungerford plc ("John Lewis" or the "Company") 11 December 2006 Appointment of Director, Board reorganisation and grant of options On 27 September 2006 the Company announced that Jonathan Rosby had beenappointed as a Director of the Company and would assume the role of ManagingDirector following a period of familiarisation. The Board is pleased to announcethat it has now been agreed that with effect from 2 January 2007 Jonathan Rosbywill take up the role of Managing Director of the Company. Mr Rosby will replace Malcolm Hepworth who assumed the executiveresponsibilities of Managing Director under a consultancy agreement on 23January 2006. Mr Hepworth will from 2 January 2007 assume the position of DeputyChairman. His present contract, which expires in July 2007, will beappropriately amended to reflect this change. As part of this reorganisation effective 2 January 2007, John Lewis, theChairman of the Company, will relinquish all day-to-day executiveresponsibilities but remain as Chairman on a part time basis. Completing the management reorganisation, the board is pleased to announce theappointment of Charlotte Hill-Baldwin to the Board as Sales Director effectivefrom 11 December 2006 Ms Hill Baldwin has worked for the Company for over six years in a salescapacity, latterly as showroom manager and designer at the Company's Hungerfordshowroom. Malcolm Hepworth, Managing Director, commented : "We are delighted that Charlotte has agreed to take the position of SalesDirector. This further strengthens the Company's management team and completesthe Company's new board structure. Charlotte's appointment coupled with theannouncement that Jon Rosby will assume full day to day Executive authority from2 January 2007, ensures the Company enters 2007 with a younger, strongermanagement team in place that has the skills appropriate to tackling the currentand future challenges facing the business.". As part of the management reorganisation the Company has agreed to grant shareoptions in John Lewis (the "Options") to Mr Rosby and to Richard Worthington,the Company's Finance and Commercial Director and Keith Bentley, theNon-executive Director of John Lewis. Details and terms of the Options are as follows:- Name Number of 0rdinary shares of 0.1p each Jonathan Rosby 5,000,000Richard Worthington 2,500,000Keith Bentley 2,500,000 The Options were in each case granted pursuant to the terms of option agreementsbetween the Company and the individuals in question dated 11 December 2006 andare ordinarily exercisable in the period commencing on the third anniversary ofgrant and ending on the day preceding the tenth anniversary of the date ofgrant. The Options are in each case exercisable at a price of 123 pence pershare, being the closing mid-market price of the Ordinary shares of the Companyon the business day last preceding the date of grant. In the case of Mr Rosby, his option has been designed to qualify as an EMIoption granted under the provisions of Part 7, Chapter 9 and Schedule 5 of theIncome Tax (Earnings and Pensions) Act 2003. The options granted to MrWorthington and Mr Bentley do not qualify as EMI options. Charlotte Hill-Baldwin's details are set out below:Full name: Charlotte Maris Hill-BaldwinPrevious Name: Charlotte Maris Cole Age: 37 Directorships/Partnerships held in the last five years: None This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange