Wills returns: M&S finance director to head back to Superdry as CFO

By

Nigel TAYLOR

Published
Feb 11, 2021

Leaving one tough job to take up another. Superdry has appointment Shaun Wills, the finance director for Clothing & Home at Marks & Spencer, as its new chief financial officer. He will actually be returning to the retailer where he was CFO for three years (2012-2015) when the business traded as SuperGroup.

At the same time, M&S has confirmed Wills’ replacement as Khurram Uqaili. He joins  from Dixons Carphone where he was group financial director since 2019.

Superdry, which is deep into a difficult turnaround programme, has been without a CFO since October when Nick Gresham left “with immediate effect”. Benedict Smith stepped in as interim CFO, a position he’ll maintain until Wills arrives at the end of April “to ensure an orderly handover”.

Wills’ career in senior finance and operational retail roles has spanned 30 years. Latterly, he’s been with M&S for three years where he’s been financial accountable for the UK retailer’s £3.5 billion-turnover non-food business having “played a key part in developing and implementing the transformation strategy for that part of the business”.

He joins Superdry at a tough time. Last month, CEO Julian Dunkerton dismissed fears over its future following the inclusion of “going concern” warning in its latest set of results. Superdry reported first-half sales fell 23.4% and dipped 44.8% at its physical stores due to Covid lockdowns. At least e-commerce partially offset the loss with digital sales jumping 49.8% year-on-year for the six months.

Dunkerton said: “Over the past three years, he has gained experience as a finance director at the very highest level in retail at M&S, and he knows our brand and business well. This will be invaluable as we emerge from the challenges of Covid and accelerate the reset of Superdry".
 
Wills added: “This is a great opportunity to work with the board, Julian and all the team to accelerate the reset of the business and restore Superdry to its rightful position as a leading global brand”.