The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Danish jeweller Pandora A/S said Chief Executive Officer Allan Leighton will step down after just over a year on the post, a period in which the company's stock more than doubled.
The Glostrup, Denmark-based company, which has gone from stock market darling to disaster to darling again since its 2010 initial public offering, said in a statement today that Anders Colding Friis will succeed him in March next year.
Leighton, the former head of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s Asda supermarket chain, joined Pandora’s board of directors in 2010 and was its chairman until he took over as CEO July 1, 2013 when Bjoern Gulden left to lead Puma SE. During Leighton’s tenure as CEO, the Danish company won back customers by introducing new products more frequently, cutting prices and opening new stores.
“A managed succession at the top of the company, at a time when its performance and opportunities have never been stronger, has been a key objective for the board,” Chairman Marcello Bottoli said in the statement.
Friis is currently CEO of Scandinavian Tobacco Group, the world’s largest manufacturer of cigars and pipe tobacco. Pandora also said today that Peder Tuborgh, CEO of dairy producer Arla Foods amba, has been proposed as its new chairman to replace Bottoli, who announced in March that he will step down from the post to pursue a new entrepreneurial project.
The company said the changes will have no impact on its outlook for 2014.
By Katarina Gustafsson; editors: Celeste Perri, Thomas Mulier.
From analysis of the global fashion and beauty industries to career and personal advice, BoF’s founder and CEO, Imran Amed, will be answering your questions on Sunday, February 18, 2024 during London Fashion Week.
The State of Fashion 2024 breaks down the 10 themes that will define the industry in the year ahead.
Imran Amed reviews the most important fashion stories of the year and shares his predictions on what this means for the industry in 2024.
After three days of inspiring talks, guests closed out BoF’s gathering for big thinkers with a black tie gala followed by an intimate performance from Rita Ora — guest starring Billy Porter.