Peter in, Peter out: New chairman appointed at Cheltenham-headquartered global retailer

Superdry has appointed of Peter Sjölander as Chairman. He replaces another Peter, Peter Williams, who is stepping down.

Peter Sjölander has had a hugely successful executive career across public company, private equity and founder-led environments. From 2007 to 2015 Peter was CEO of Helly Hansen where he spearheaded its transition from being a business focused on its local Scandinavian markets to a globally recognised brand. Digital transformation was core to Peter's leadership of Helly Hansen.

Most recently Peter has held a number of senior advisory and non-executive roles, including working with leading private equity funds where he has advised a number of brands and digital consumer businesses within their portfolios, overseeing their growth and successful technology implementations. Earlier in his career Peter spent 13 years at Nike in a number of leadership roles across marketing, product and general management, working in the Nordics, Netherlands and USA at a time of rapid growth for the brand. Following his tenure at Nike Peter joined Electrolux where he was responsible for brand and product driving a shift from an industrial agenda to a consumer centric one. He is currently a non-executive director of Dometic Group AB (listed in Sweden) and Fiskars Oyj (listed in Finland). No further disclosures under Listing Rule 9.6.13 are required to be made.

Julian Dunkerton, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Superdry, said: "Peter has a tremendous track record of driving value creation and is a true digitally-focused brand leader. The turnaround of Helly Hansen that he led when he was CEO, building a globally recognised brand with significant eCommerce revenues, was highly impressive, and through his work with leading global brands such as Nike, he has accumulated fantastic brand, digital and international experience, all of which will be invaluable as we emerge from the challenges of Covid and accelerate the reset of Superdry. I'm delighted we have been able to attract someone of his calibre as Chair of Superdry and I'm looking forward to working with him.

"I would also like to thank Peter Williams for his support over the past two years. He has played a really important role since I returned to Superdry, in particular working with me to put in place a strong Board and management team to enable us to deliver on our ambition, and I'm extremely grateful to him for all he's done for the business."

Peter Sjölander, incoming Chairman, said: "'I am delighted to have been appointed as Chairman of Superdry, a world class brand which I have admired for many years. The Board, Julian and the Executive Team have a clear vision for the business and have made a great start on the reset, and I am really looking forward to working with everyone to restore Superdry to its rightful position as a leading global brand."

Peter Williams, outgoing Chairman, said: "I have thoroughly enjoyed my two years as Chairman of Superdry. Having completed the Executive Team with the appointments of our new CFO and COO, and with the reset of the brand well under way, I feel now is the right time to step down. In Peter Sjölander the Board has found an excellent candidate with highly relevant experience, and I wish him, Julian and everyone at Superdry every success for the future."