Fashion retailer Fat Face’s chief financial officer Helen Cowing has left the business following its aborted IPO.

Cowing joined the fashion retailer in August last year to help prepare for its flotation. She previously held senior board positions at firms including Pepsico, healthcare firm Novartis and vending-machine operator Selecta Group.

A Fat Face spokesperson said: “We can confirm that Helen Cowing has left the FatFace business to pursue career opportunities elsewhere. We thank Helen for her contribution to the business, particularly during the IPO process which we were undertaking earlier in the year.”

Will Crumbie, Fat Face head of finance and reporting has taken on the role on an interim basis.

Fat Face had been planning to make its stock market debut in June but abandoned its plans citing “equity market conditions”.

Chief executive Anthony Thompson told Retail Week last month it was right to pull its listing as “the equity market changed and affected mid-sized valuations”.

He said: “We’ll keep looking at opportunities in terms of our financial structure but right now our priority is to focus on our customers.”

Fat Face EBITDA surged 26% to £39.3m in its full year to May 31. Like-for-likes rose 7.6% while total sales increased 12% to £200m.