New Look exit rounds off week of revolving doors

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Anders Kristiansen’s abrupt exodus from New Look concludes a week of departures across the retail sector.

Kristiansen’s near-five-year tenure at the helm of the fashion retailer came to an unceremonious end today.

The fashion boss, who had once been credited with turning the retailer around, is understood to have left the business with immediate effect, a month after it reported a 7.5% slump in first-quarter like-for-like sales.

Those results were New Look’s second consecutive first-quarter of flagging sales and profits, and seemingly the final straw for parent company Brait’s patience with Kristiansen’s turnaround strategy.

Kristiansen’s departure has not come as a massive shock, unlike Dunelm boss John Browett’s exit earlier this week.

The saying ‘live by the sword, die by the sword’ comes to mind.

As a boss that orchestrated a major reshuffle in the retailer’s product team earlier in the year, Kristiansen knows the value of fresh blood to turn around a struggling business – so perhaps his exit has not surprised him either.

Also today, the war of words between Sir Philip Green and Frank Field raged on and rent-to-own firm Buy As You View appointed administrators.