Retail veteran Sarah Miles is new Hush CEO

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Dec 2, 2022

Fast-growing, digital-first women’s fashion and lifestyle brand Hush has named Feelunique's Sarah Miles as its new CEO, effective from 16 January. 

Miles takes over from Kate Bartman who’s returning to her previous role of Chief Trading Officer, “having overseen a significant period of transformation at Hush over the last two years, including an increase in the brand’s customer base of more than 50%”. 

The new CEO has over a quarter of a century’s experience of “successfully driving growth across major UK and international consumer brands” and had previously been CEO of Feelunique.

That business was acquired by LVMH’s Sephora and relaunched recently under the Sephora name, marking the beauty brand’s return to the UK market. But before its acquisition in September last year, Miles led the team that grew revenues to more than £100 million.

Before that. She was at Amazon for five years, where she was a major player in its fashion retail ambitions in her role as Director, EU Apparel. She also spent 12 years at drinks giant Diageo and is a Non-Executive Director of The British Retail Consortium and at packaging specialist James Cropper. 

Miles said she’s “long admired” Hush for its “outstanding customer connection and truly differentiated product proposition. The business’s digital-first model, clear brand purpose, and focus on designing quality products help hush to clearly stand out in a competitive womenswear market”.

And company Chair Susanne Given added: “Sarah has an outstanding track record across some of the world’s leading consumer businesses and I have no doubt Hush will continue to thrive under her leadership. Sarah brings not only vast experience of driving strategic growth across several great retailers, but also a broad international perspective and a deep passion for sustainability and purpose-led brands. 

“I’d like to place on record my sincere thanks to Kate for her contributions during what has been a pivotal period for the business. She has been instrumental in driving Hush’s continued evolution over the last two years, working closely alongside Roo and Mandy, our founders. 

“During her time as CEO, Hush has made excellent progress against its growth strategy, including putting in place the team and infrastructure for continued success. Having stepped back as CEO, we are delighted that Kate will remain part of Hush’s leadership team as the business focuses on delivering the next chapters of its growth underpinned by providing customers with a great, sustainability-led brand experience.”