Karren Brady to chair Arcadia’s parent company

Baroness Karren Brady, the boss of West Ham United and a judge on reality TV show The Apprentice, has been appointed as non-executive chairman of Taveta, the parent company of Sir Philip Green’s fashion retailer empire Arcadia.

Brady will replace Lord Grabiner as non-executive chairman immediately, as he has announced that he is stepping down from the board after 15 years. Grabiner was heavily criticised by a committee of MPs with regard to the collapse of BHS for his “weak corporate governance”.

In a statement Sir Philip Green said: “I am delighted to announce that Baroness Karren Brady will be appointed as non-executive Chairman. Baroness Brady joined the Taveta Board as a non-executive Director in September 2010 and will assume the role immediately.”

Taveta names Baroness Karren Brady as non-executive chairman

Taveta is the Green family firm, owned by the retail mogul and his wife Tina that controls Arcadia, the umbrella company that owns fashion chains Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Burton, Wallis, and Outfit. Arcadia has an annual turnover in excess of 2 billion pounds and employs more than 24,000 people globally.

Commenting on her appointment, Brady said: “It is a privilege to have been invited to chair the Board and I look forward to working with my colleagues as we concentrate on driving the Arcadia brands forward on their global expansion.”

Brady takes over as chair at a tricky time for the retail group as it recently reported lower sales and profits with falling sales and increased costs linked to the collapse of BHS. Taveta reported that pre-tax profits for the Arcadia group plummeted from 172 million pounds to 37 million pounds in the year ended August 27, 2016, with total turnover down 17 percent to 2.02 billion pounds.

Image: courtesy of Topshop