Burberry appoints Céline boss as new CEO

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jul 11, 2016

Luxury fashion house Burberry announced on Monday changes to its leadership team. Current CEO of Céline, Marco Gobbeti has been appointed new Burberry Chief Executive Officer with responsibility for all commercial, operational and financial elements of the business, taking over from Christopher Bailey.

Bailey remain in the company as Chief Creative Officer and President, overseeing all elements of brand and design.

Both men will report directly to Chairman Sir John Peace.

Marco Gobetti will join the board in 2017. He is currently CEO and Chairman of French luxury brand Céline, where his retail and customer focused strategies have delivered significant growth over the last 8 years.

Christopher Bailey said: "I am very excited that Marco Gobbetti is joining us as Chief Executive Officer and as a partner to me.  Marco brings incredible experience and skills in luxury and retail with him that will be invaluable to us.”

Burberry Chairman Sir John Peace said: "I am delighted that Marco will be joining us to work alongside Christopher in his new role as we embark upon the next chapter in our 160-year-old success story.  He has an outstanding track record of delivering growth in the luxury industry and his vision for the sector and how it will evolve is extremely impressive.”

“The Board firmly believes that these new leadership roles coupled with actions, identified in the recent business review, will significantly enhance our ability to deliver long-term sustainable growth and sector outperformance over time.”

The appointments form part of an ongoing business review to target new growth opportunities. In the year ended 31 March, 2016, Burberry saw its profit before tax slide to £416m from £445m in the prior year. 

“Since taking on the combined role of Chief Executive and Chief Creative Officer, Christopher Bailey has done an excellent job set against a backdrop of challenging market conditions. The review that he has led into our ways of working is the blueprint for the next phase of Burberry's evolution.  In order to maximise our ability to successfully implement these plans, Christopher identified the need for a new Chief Executive for the business who could partner with him as we execute on the new strategies and I am excited to see what they will do together," added Sir John Peace.

Additionally, the luxury brand announced the appointment of Julie Brown as new Chief Operating & Financial Officer. She will join the business in early 2017 succeeding Chief Financial Officer, Carol Fairweather, who has decided to pursue new opportunities.