Revamped MFI will be a leader, not a follower

Fresh product and increased fashionability will be key components of MFI's turnaround, incoming chief executive Gary Favell revealed.

Favell (pictured) has formally taken control after MFI shareholders approved the sale of the retail arm to Merchant Equity.

He said: 'We've got to be first to market. When you think about product, MFI has been a follower. My objective is to make it a leader.' He will also mount a concerted push into the fitted bathroom market, following a six-store trial that will take place after the January Sale.

Other hirings include former Kwik-Fit finance director Kenneth McGill, who joins MFI in the same role, ex-Polestar Group chairman Christopher Pavlovsky as chief operating officer and ex-Magnet human resources director Marc Bertrand, who will head HR for MFI.