Blacks CEO to resign
Julia Reynolds, the chief executive of Blacks Leisure, is set to leave the UK-based outdoor retailer following its acquisition in January by JD Sports Fashion. The sportswear group refused to comment last night on speculation that Ms Reynolds will leave the operator of the Blacks and Millets chains in coming months.
The reasons for Ms Reynolds' exit are thought to relate to the likelihood that once the heavy lifting of the integration between the two groups is completed, the role of chief executive of Blacks will be different.
The expected departure of Ms Reynolds, who joined Blacks as chief executive in August, is the latest development in a tumultuous four months for the outdoor group, which JD bought out of administration for £20 million on 9 January, 2012.
Since then JD has closed more than 80 of the 290 Blacks and Millets stores it bought. The bigger Millets chain has borne the brunt of these closures.
The acquisition of Blacks took its toll on JD's full-year results. Pre-tax profits fell by 6.9% to £75.9 million over the year to 28 January, including a £2.2 million operating loss from nearly three weeks of trading at Blacks.
JD commented in April: “The Blacks business was in a very fractured state on acquisition. We inherited a limited and unbalanced stock position, with a particularly severe lack of stocks in many core high-performing lines. The management team is investing a significant amount of time on developing relationships with the key brands and getting stocks flowing again.”
