Naked Wines chairman to step down
Naked Wines has announced that its chairman John Walden will be stepping down after the company’s AGM in August due to personal reasons.
He will be succeeded by senior independent director Ian Harding who himself will be retiring from the board in the summer of 2021. The company is now beginning a search for a new non-executive director and chairman elect.
Having joined the Naked Wines board in June 2013, Harding played an instrumental role in the acquisition of Naked Wines in 2015 by Majestic Wine. Prior to that, he spent 19 years working in senior roles with Kingfisher.
Harding said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank John for his guidance and support during his time as chairman. He led the board through the execution of the sale of the Majestic businesses, Naked’s formative stages of becoming a pure-play online business with an enhanced focus on the US market, and the unprecedented trading conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic. He leaves the group with a strong balance sheet, clear focus and strong growth momentum and we wish him well for the future.”
In a trading update, Naked Wines also said that sales in June climbed by 67% year-on-year to bring total sales growth for the retailer’s first quarter to 77%.
The company added: “The board continues to believe that Naked is ideally positioned to be a long-term winner from the inflection in consumer demand for online wine as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
