Karren Brady has resigned from her role as chair of Arcadia owner Taveta Investments, less than two years after being appointed.
No reason was given for her resignation. However, it follows calls for her to stand down in the wake of the scandal surrounding Sir Philip Green.
Brady, who was appointed as chair of Arcadia holding company Taveta in 2017 and had been on the board since 2010, previously said she would not resign from her post because of her “real sense of duty” to Arcadia staff.
Brady became chair of Taveta following the departure of Lord Grabiner, who had been accused by MPs of being the “apogee of weak corporate governance” over Arcadia’s sale of BHS, which subsequently went bust.
Brady’s first hire as chair, non-executive director Sharon Brown, who was previously interim chair of McColl’s, has also resigned.
A Taveta spokesperson said: “Taveta would like to announce that Karren Brady and Sharon Brown (in their respective capacities as non-executive chair and non-executive director) have resigned from its board. Taveta thanks them for their contribution and wishes them well for the future.
“Taveta is in active discussions with individuals who have significant relevant experience and expects to make a further announcement as to the composition of its board shortly.
“The board of the Taveta group’s main operating company, Arcadia Group Limited (under the chairmanship of group CEO Ian Grabiner) and the boards of all the other trading companies within the group remain both unchanged and committed to the group’s strategy for the benefit of all stakeholders.”
Her exit comes despite earlier protestations that she would stay at the business, which has been engulfed in controversy following allegations against owner Green.
A spokesperson told The Daily Telegraph earlier this month: “I hope you would agree that walking away is the easy thing to do – staying in the role and ensuring the company is robust going forward is much harder.
“She has made significant and lasting changes to the business since she became chair and will continue to do so, ensuring that the company maintains the standards expected of it.”
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