Jigsaw interim boss to step down

Jigsaw’s interim chief executive, Chris Stephenson, is stepping down on January 18 after just six months in the role, and will move into a non-executive director role.

The premium fashion retailer stated that Toby Foreman, who has been with the company as group HR director for four years, will assume the role of interim chief executive with the current team of senior directors reporting into him and as a whole to the board and the shareholders.

The move comes as chairman Charles Atterton also announced his retirement from the company. Atterton has been with Jigsaw for more than 20 years assuming various roles for the retailer.

The company said in a statement: “Jigsaw is grateful for all the hard work of all our colleagues. We will continue to invest in our people and product to further develop and enhance the quality of our customer proposition.”

The leadership changes came as Jigsaw UK reported that its like-for-like sales for the 10 weeks to December 22 increased 6.3 percent, compared with the same period last year.

Both own stores and online “performed well” it added, with like-for-like store sales up 6 percent, and online sales up 17 percent on 2017.

Jigsaw said the performance was supported by a “strong product offer, as well as developing the omnichannel customer proposition, including investment online, and a continued focus on the in-store experience”.

Images: courtesy of Jigsaw