House of Fraser CEO steps down
House of Fraser has announced that its chief executive John King is to step down after eight years in the role.
He will be succeeded by the department store’s chief operating officer Nigel Oddy although he will remain on the House of Fraser board.
Oddy has more than 35 years experience in the retail sector. He joined House Fraser in 2007 but prior to that worked as a director at SB Capital and held a number of senior positions at Marks & Spencer.
Commenting on his appointment, Oddy said: “It is a real privilege to be appointed to lead such a strong multi-channel business and team of people. I look forward to building on John’s strategy to drive international expansion and continue our investment in our stores, brands and our multichannel offering.
“We have already agreed locations to expand the brand in China, with three stores due to open over the next two years, and plan to open further new stores in the Middle East with our franchise partner Retail Arabia. In addition, we will continue to focus on our strategic pillars to enhance our premium department store positioning.”
House of Fraser, which has nearly 60 stores in the UK, also announced the appointment of Frank Slevin as executive chairman. He will succeed Don McCarthy who left the business last year. Slevin has 16 years experience of working in Asia, most recently as head of global banking for Asia Pacific at HSBC.
