An era has come to an end at the British retail group JD Sports Fashion Plc: On Wednesday the company announced that Executive Chairman Peter Cowgill had resigned with immediate effect. The 69-year-old had managed the group of companies since 2004. Despite economic success, the manager had recently been increasingly controversial.
The direct background to the decision was apparently disagreements about the future management structure of the group: weeks ago, the company had announced that it wanted to separate the posts of the head of the board of directors and the CEO. According to press reports, Cowgill, who had combined both areas of responsibility in his previous role, was against this measure, but was ultimately unable to assert himself against the Board of Directors.
For the time being, Helen Ashton will temporarily head the Board of Directors as Non-Executive Chair, while Kath Smith will be responsible for day-to-day business as interim CEO. Smith. who was already a member of the Board of Directors, can look back on a long career in the sporting goods industry. Among other things, she managed the business of the outdoor brand The North Face in the EMEA region and was Managing Director of the labels Adidas and Reebok.
According to JD Sports, the current personnel tableau is only an interim solution: the group announced that it is already looking for suitable candidates for the two new management positions.
Interim Chair Helen Ashton explained the upheaval: “Under Peter’s leadership, the company has grown into a leading global multichannel retailer with a proven strategy and clear momentum. However, as our business has grown larger and more complex, it has become clear that our internal infrastructure, governance and controls have not evolved at the same pace,” she said in a statement. “As we seek to capitalize on the great opportunities that lie ahead, the Board is committed to ensuring that we have the highest standards of corporate governance and control befitting a FTSE 100 company in order to to support future growth.”
This was preceded by an internal investigation after Cowgill’s management had recently given rise to criticism on several occasions. In February, for example, the company was sentenced to a million fine because Cowgill had been proven to have colluded as part of the takeover of the Footasylum retail chain, which was stopped by the competition authorities. Last year there was also a dispute with shareholders because the CEO should receive high bonus payments, even though JD Sports had used government financial aid during the Covid 19 pandemic.