New CEO at FatFace as Liz Evans departs for George at Asda

British brand FatFace has promoted its chief financial officer Will Crumbie to the role of CEO after Liz Evans announced plans to step down to take on a new role at Asda’s George label.

Crumbie has been at the company for the past eight years, during which he has overseen all key operational areas of the business, including its supply chain and IT over the last two years.

Prior to FatFace, he held senior financial and executive positions within the Walgreen Boots Alliance Group & P&O.

Crumbie has taken on the role with immediate effect but Evans will remain at the company until the end of the year for a period of handover.

FatFace chair Colin Porter welcomed Crumbie to the group, hailing his “strong commercial background and deep knowledge of the business”.

Crumbie said: “It is an honour to be appointed as CEO of this fantastic brand with a rich heritage and I would like to extend my huge thanks to Liz for her leadership and guidance over the last few years.

“Whilst the external landscape remains challenging, I am excited about the opportunities for FatFace - we have a great product range and first-class multichannel offering that has performed strongly following the major reopening of the UK and US economies in April, with all channels performing ahead of expectations”.

Evans to take on MD role at George

The executive change comes as Evans steps down from the helm of the business to take on a new opportunity at Asda’s George label. She will be joining the brand as its managing director, multiple news publications have reported.

Evans has been the CEO of FatFace since 2019, before which she spent six years in the same role at Oasis & Warehouse.

She will succeed Steph Strike who joined Asda back in 1995 as part of the retailer’s graduate training scheme and held several senior roles at the company before being appointed as managing director of George in 2019.

In April, it was announced that Strike would be stepping down.

It comes at a time of significant change at Asda, which in February was bought by billionaire brothers Zuber and Mohsin Issa and private equity firm TDR Capital from Walmart for 6.8 billion pounds.

Weeks later it was announced that Asda CEO Roger Burnley would be leaving the company. It was planned that he wouldn’t leave the business until 2021, once a long-term successor was in place, but in August he made a surprise exit, six months ahead of schedule.

Asda’s new owners said they had “mutually agreed” with Burnley “that now is the right time for him to step down from the business following a transition period under our ownership”.

“We would like to thank Roger for his leadership and contribution during his time with the business, particularly during the last year,” they said.