New Burberry Group PLC chief executive Jonathan Akeroyd will get his first opportunity to strut his stuff in the British fashion house's iconic tartan on Wednesday, having joined from Versace a month ago.
After previous boss Marco Gobbetti announced his departure earlier this year to return to his native Italy and join footwear brand Salvatore Ferragamo, Akeroyd was hired with a £6mln 'golden hello' to cover the forgone bonuses from Versace, which he led for three years.
Taking over the helm at Burberry he inherits a business that was looking to position itself as more upmarket and become more exclusive, a process Gobbetti started five years ago.
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But while Burberry’s share price reached all-time highs above £23 in 2019, and nearly achieved the same levels last summer before the Italian's departure, it has not been immune from wider concerns, with the shares down 15% so far this year to 1,575p.
Back at its half-year numbers, the FTSE 100 group said revenues had recovered to pre-pandemic levels, with full-price sales driving margin and profits higher.
In an update in January, the board stuck to its medium-term guidance for high single-digit top line growth and said it expects adjusting operating profit for the year to grow by 35%.
Chairman Gerry Murphy said: “We are confident of finishing the year strongly and providing an excellent platform on which to build when our new CEO Jonathan Akeroyd joins."
Since then, however, industry-wide challenges, especially supply chain issues, have worsened, with consumer confidence now also taking a severe battering - even for the rich buyers of upmarket fashions.