Fenwick chair Richard Pennycook and chief executive Robbie Feather are both stepping down as the business’ founding family wrestles back control.

The department store chain said the changes would bring the Fenwick family “closer to the running of the business [and] slim down the board”.

Fenwick insisted the move was “the right decision now and for the longer term”.

Richard Pennycook

Richard Pennycook

Pennycook, who became the first Fenwick chair from outside the family when he took the role in February 2017, has been replaced on an interim basis by non-executive director Steve Barber.

Feather, who Retail Week revealed as the first person from outside the family to be named chief executive in January 2018, will be succeeded by John Edgar.

Edgar has previously been finance boss at Selfridges and Harrods and was most recently as a senior adviser to Boston Consulting Group.

Fenwick said that, although Edgar has already joined, Feather will remain with the business for a month to “ensure a smooth transition”.

A Fenwick spokeswoman said: “We would like to thank Richard for his guidance during his time as chair and to thank Robbie for all his leadership and dedication in driving the most ambitious transformation in Fenwick’s history.

“This is an unprecedented time for the retail sector, and we are pleased to welcome John Edgar as Fenwick’s new chief executive. We look forward to working closely with John and the whole team to help guide Fenwick through this incredibly challenging time.”

Robbie Feather

Robbie Feather

During their time with the business, Pennycook and Feather drove Fenwick’s multichannel strategy, launching its transactional ecommerce platform last April.

The duo also spearheaded plans to invest in new IT systems and centralise a number of Fenwick’s functions such as buying and HR, which were previously carried out independently at each of Fenwick’s nine stores.

In its latest financial figures, Fenwick swung to a pre-tax loss of £44.2m in the year to January 25, 2019, compared to a profit of £2m the previous year.

Operating profit before exceptional items tumbled 84.1% to £7.8m. But taking into account one-off costs such as write-downs in the value of its stores, Fenwick booked an operating loss of £43.7m.

Fenwick’s bottom line was dented by further investment in its three-year transformation plan and a 13.6% drop in gross sales to £355m. The retailer blamed the fall on a highly promotional market, the ongoing shift to online and “increasingly fragile consumer confidence” sparked by Brexit uncertainty.

Sales are understood to have tumbled in recent weeks following the outbreak of coronavirus, piling further pressure on the department store chain.