Mulberry finance chief quits following tough first half

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 19, 2019

Mulberry is on the hunt for a new group finance director to replace Neil Ritchie, who has announced his decision to resign after three years in the role.

He will remain at Mulberry until 30 June following the completion of the year end audit process. Ritchie joined the luxury fashion and accessories brand in 2016 from Dyson, where he spent more than a decade holding a variety of senior finance roles.

Mulberry chairman Godfrey Davis said: “The board would like to express its thanks to Neil for his valuable contribution to the group over the past three years and wish him every success in his future endeavours."

Ritchie added: “I would like to thank the board and my colleagues for their support over the past three years.  It has been a privilege to have contributed to Mulberry's development and the creation of its platform for international expansion.”

In the six months ended 30 September, Mulberry experienced an 8% decline in revenue to £68.3m partly due to House of Fraser’s collapse. This also impacted the brand’s profitability, with pre-tax losses growing to £3.6m from £0.6m a year earlier.

Mulberry has been trying to boost its ‘Made in England’ credentials as it continues to expand overseas. It currently has 29 stores in Korea and Japan, and has established digital partnership with a number of e-tailers to drive growth in China.

The British company expects to report an underlying profit before tax for the full year to end of March.