Matalan chairman John Mills to step down

Matalan has reportedly appointed Redgrave Partners to handle the search for a new chairman as John Mills prepares to step down from the role for the second time.

Mills, a veteran adviser to Matalan founder John Hargreaves, has been the chairman of the fashion and homewares retailer since 2018.

This is his second stint at the company, having previously held the role of chairman from 2007 until 2012.

According to Sky News, headhunters have been appointed to identify a successor now that Matalan has secured fresh funds to get through the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to a £25 million revolving credit facility provided by the government’s Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme, the company has secured consent from bondholders to issue £25 million of new notes.

This will strengthen Matalan’s liquidity following a tough period during the UK lockdown. The retailer has recently revealed that revenue slumped by 71% in the nine weeks to 2 May 2020 compared to the prior year.

But more than half of the company’s UK stores have now reopened, with the remainder expected to lift the shutters from 15 June.

"To support the 175 reopenings thus far, we have unfurloughed over 5,000 of our colleagues," the company said in a statement on Friday. "Upon reopening, store performance has been strong and ahead of expectation. Like-for-like store sales performance for reopened stores on the days they were trading to 30 May 2020 was 14.6% ahead of last year."

Full-year results for the 53 weeks ending 29 February will be released later this month.

Matalan chairman John Mills to step down

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