Troubled UK fashion retailer and brand, Ted Baker, has appointed its first chief customer officer, as it looks to reverse an alarming decline in sales and reputation.
By Ben Sillitoe
Jennifer Roebuck, chief marketing officer of online beauty retailer Feelunique, will take on the newly created role. Roebuck has been a non-executive director on the Ted Baker board, and will step down from that position in April to take the new leadership job within the business.
The new chief customer officer’s career to date has also included time at fashion retailer French Connection, where she was multichannel marketing director. Her responsibilities in the new job will include developing a customer and digital strategy across the business, and exploring new digital partnership opportunities.
Ted Baker is currently on the hunt for a permanent chair and CEO, and said today (29 January) that the search “is progressing well”. Sales have fallen considerably in recent months following the departure of founder and ex-CEO, Ray Kelvin, who resigned from his role last March in the wake of alleged harassment in the workplace.
He was subsequently succeeded by Lindsay Page, who was then replaced after just eight months by the finance director, Rachel Osborne, who continues to hold the job on an interim basis. As well as reporting falling sales and issuing a full-year profit warning in December 2019, Ted Baker last week revealed the £25 million stock value overstatement it announced last month was actually a worse accountancy error than feared, placing it at £58 million.
Roebuck, therefore, will be assuming the chief customer office role at a crucial time for the business as it looks to turnaround its fortunes and rebuild its reputation as one of the UK retail’s 21st-century success stories.
Sharon Baylay, acting chair of Ted Baker, commented: “We are delighted that Jennifer is joining the executive leadership team.
“Her background in digital transformation and brand marketing, particularly in the lifestyle and clothing sector will be of huge benefit to the leadership team, as they look to position the business for future success.”
Roebuck added: “My time on the board has strengthened my view that Ted is a great brand and business and I look forward to contributing to its future success.”
This article originally appeared in EssentialRetail.
