Just in April 2019, Dunkerton rejoined the company's board after narrowly winning a shareholder vote. As a consequence back then the previous directors, including then-CEO Euan Sutherland, resigned in unison.
In other news, Silvana Bonello has been appointed as Chief Operating Officer. She will report directly to Julian Dunkerton and becomes a member of the executive team. In her new role she will be responsible for enhancing the effectiveness of the company's end-to-end operations and planning processes, encompassing merchandising, logistics, IT, business transformation, sourcing processes and corporate strategy.
Before, Bonello held numerous senior operational and strategic roles in the US and the Netherlands with Nike (where she spent 18 years), and most recently as VP Operations for Vans EMEA (part of the VF Corporation). She will relocate to the UK from Switzerland and take up her new post on 1 March 2021.
Furthermore, Peter Williams has indicated that he will step down as Chairman in 2021, once a successor is appointed. Peter joined as Chairman in April 2019, supporting Julian Dunkerton's return to Superdry. A process to appoint a new Chair is underway.
"On behalf of the Board, I am delighted to confirm Julian's appointment as permanent CEO. Since re-joining the business last year, Julian has been driving forward the transformation of the business and resetting the Superdry brand with the launch of the AW20 range in the most challenging of times. There remains much to do - particularly against this current backdrop - and so we are also pleased to strengthen the team further with the appointment of Silvana as COO. [...] Julian and Silvana's appointments are amongst the last steps in putting the right team together to secure the turnaround of the business. With the search for a new CFO well advanced, the completed executive team will be in place early next year and so 2021 is an appropriate time for me to step down," said Peter Williams, Chairman of the Board of Superdry.
