New Look board appoints new director as Brait’s Gnodde steps down

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Mar 31, 2020

New Look has announced that Stuart MacKenzie has joined the board of directors as a non-executive member, replacing John Gnodde.

Gnodde first joined the New Look board in 2015, first serving as non-executive chairman and then becoming a non-executive director in 2017. 

As a board member, he represented the interests of Brait, which owns a 18.5% stake in the business. But after 25 years with the group, Gnodde stepped down as CEO of Brait SA in February, and as a result, he left the board of New Look this month. 

Stuart MacKenzie, CEO of Ethos Private Equity, Brait’s new corporate adviser, has taken over. He has been the leader of Ethos since 2014, and has deep experience working with portfolio companies across numerous industries and all aspects of the private equity and venture capital value chain.

The board update underlines Brait’s new business strategy. The South African company, which also controls the Iceland supermarket chain and gym group Virgin Active, is looking to sell off various assets, including the New Look interest, in the next five years. 

The company paid £780m to become the majority owner of the British high street brand in 2015, but it was forced to hand a large part of its stake to bondholders last year following a refinancing deal. 

Commenting on the board changes, New Look chairman Alistair McGeorge said: “On behalf of the board I would like to thank John for his support and contribution to New Look over the last five years. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.

He added: “I am delighted to welcome Stuart to the board. We look forward to working with him and benefitting from his expertise.”