The management duo of the Austrian clothing supplier Wolford AG are going their separate ways. On Wednesday evening, the legwear specialist from Bregenz announced that Chief Operating Officer (COO) Andrew Thorndike would be leaving the company. The manager and the board of directors “mutually terminated Andrew Thorndike’s board mandate effective July 31, 2022,” according to a statement. The search for a successor has already begun. Until this is found, Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) Silvia Azzali will “manage the business as sole director”.
Thorndike has been a member of the Wolford AG Board of Management since autumn 2019, responsible for product management & technical product development, purchasing and procurement, supply chain, finance, law, investor relations, human resources, IT and infrastructure. Since the resignation of CEO Axel Dreher at the end of October 2019, he has been managing the company together with the second board member, Silvia Azzali. In May last year, the contracts of the management duo were extended until the end of 2024.
CCO Silvia Azzali will initially lead Wolford alone
The Wolford Supervisory Board thanked the outgoing manager “expressly for his commitment to the company”. Thorndike has “driven and largely completed the restructuring of the company,” according to a statement. Wolford “achieved the best EBITDA in 10 years in 2021”.
In fact, thanks to strong sales growth, the clothing supplier was able to achieve earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of EUR 8.5 million in the past financial year, after posting a corresponding deficit of EUR 8.0 million in the previous year. The bottom line, however, was still in the red. A new era will soon dawn for the company: the Chinese parent company Lanvin Group is currently preparing its IPO in New York.