Mamas & Papas has appointed ex-Kiddicare boss Chris Yates to lead the struggling retailer, replacing temporary chief executive Derek Lovelock.

Yates was the boss of Kiddicare for five months until November last year. In September etail group WorldStores bought the maternity specialist, which reported a loss of £127.8m in the year to February 2, 2014. Yates had been brought in to transform the struggling retailer after investment firm Endless bought it for £2m earlier in the year.

Yates takes over at Mamas & Papas from retail veteran Lovelock, who was appointed interim chief executive in September.

Yates started his career at Sainsbury’s, where he joined the graduate programme. He stayed with the supermarket group for 22 years. He has also worked as retail stores director at Jessops and held roles at Phones 4u and gym chain Esporta.

Mamas & Papas has been hit by fierce competition from the supermarkets and online players. The retailer’s pre-tax losses more than quadrupled to £12.1m in the year to March 2014.

In September last year the retailer went through a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) in order to seek rent reductions on underperforming stores. Following that, private equity firm BlueGem Capital Partners took a majority stake in the business.