Jack Wills’ founder reportedly leaving the company

New York - Peter Williams, founder of British preppy fashion label Jack Wills, is reportedly leaving the company over a financially led disagreement with private equity partner.

Sources close to the matter cited by the ‘Sunday Times’ point out that Peter Williams is set to leave the company following a disagreement with BlueGem, the private equity firm that owns 60 percent of Jack Wills.

It’s worth recalling that Jack Wills’ co-founder Peter Williams returned to the company in 2015 to take the helm. A year later, in October 2016, Williams sealed a multimillion-pound buyout of the retailer with private equity firm BlueGem.

As reported by the weekend edition of the ‘Times’, BlueGem is expected to inject 10 million pounds of new equity while Searchlight Capital would put down another 10 million pounds. The fashion label is advised on this refinancing by AlixPartners and Ernst & Young.

The retailer has been ramping up its international expansion over the past twelve months, after securing 10 million pounds in funding (when HSBC increased its credit facility to the retailer to 30 million pounds.) Jack Wills is currently present in 130 countries.

Jack Wills’ founder expected to leave after taking the retailer back to profitability

A year into the partnership with BlueGem, the fashion retailer came back to the black, making an operating profit of 730,000 pounds for its fiscal 2017, compared to a loss of 13.8 million pounds the year before. Back then, the company said in a corporate statement that it said it had absorbed 1.7 million pounds of costs associated with the BlueGem acquisition. Jack Wills said then profit transformation had continued into 2017/18 thanks to ongoing efficiency programmes.

Fast-forward 18 months and BlueGem, which also owns upscale British department store Liberty of London, is understood to be in the process of organising a 20 million pounds refinancing of the fashion chain, according to the same sources.

Market sources told FashionUnited that part of this successful turnaround is due to the flurry of executive appointments followed the deal with BlueGem. Derek Lovelock was named non-executive chairman in late 2016 and tasked with leveraging its 30 years‘experience in the UK financial industry as lead adviser to Williams. Lovelock stepped down one year after the deal, being replaced by Rothschilds’ veteran Richard Wyatt. Commenting on the latter, Jack Will’s founder explained in a press release that “During that first year the business has undergone a significant revitalisation and we have hired some very exciting new talent.” Amongst those then new hires stood out the names of formerly at Burberry Claire Waugh as chief marketing officer, Mike Doyle as chief financial officer, David Wertheim (merchandising director) and Superdry’s Greg Roberts.as wholesale director.

Jack Wills' management changes over the last years

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Image :Jack Wills Official Website