Mothercare chief executive Simon Calver resigns

Mother and baby retailer Mothercare has announced that its chief executive Simon Calver has resigned and will leave the company at the end of March. In a statement, the company gave no reason for Calver’s departure, just that it was with immediate effect, and that the search for his successor has already begun.

In the interim period, the day-to-day running of the business will be handled by the executive management team who will report directly to Mothercare chairman Alan Parker.

Mothercare

has been carrying out a restructuring plan in an attempt to turn its struggling UK business around, which has resulted in the closure of a number of loss-making stores. However, in January the retailer issued a profit warning, after disappointing trading over the Christmas period.

In today’s statement, Mothercare said it remains “confident” in the underlying strength of the brand and added that it expects results for the year ending March 2014 to be in line with current market forecasts. It added: “The strategy remains to restore profitability in the UK business to complement the strong and growing International operations.”

Simon Calver steps down as Mothercare chief

Calver joined Mothercare from Lovefilm in April 2012, succeeding Ben Gordon who left the business in October 2011 following a series of profit warnings. He departs the mother and baby retailer with a 250,000 pound payment in lieu of six months’ notice, as well as 44,450 pounds as compensation for 'contractual benefits' and he will not receive a bonus for the 2014 financial year.

Commenting on Calver’s departure, Parker said: "Since Simon Calver joined Mothercare plc in April 2012, under his leadership the company has made progress in implementing the transformation and growth plan. In particular, Simon Calver's e-commerce expertise has allowed Mothercare to accelerate its development as a multi-channel retailer in the UK.

“We wish him well in the future. Mothercare has a strong executive management team which is very capable of running the business in the interim while the search for a new CEO is under way."