Ted Baker appoints Rachel Osbourne as new CEO amid Covid-19 crisis

Lifestyle brand Ted Baker has today announced the appointment of Rachel Osbourne as its new CEO amid the Covid-19 crisis.

Osbourne , whose appointment will be effective immediately, has more than 20 years’ of relevant brand and retail sector experience. She joined Ted Baker as chief financial officer in November 2019, before being appointed as acting chief executive officer in December 2019.

She joined the brand from Debenhams, where she held the position of CFO. She has also worked as CFO at Domino’s Pizza Group.

Osbourne has also held the position of finance director of group enterprise at Vodafone and finance and strategy director at John Lewis. In addition, she has held senior positions at Sodexo, Kingfisher and PepsiCo.

Further to the appointment of Osbourne as CEO, the board confirms that the search for a  chairman is “progressing well”. Sharon Baylay will continue to lead the board as acting chair in the interim period.

The board also confirmed that Jennifer Roebuck, currently a non-executive director on the board, will be taking up her previously announced leadership role of chief customer officer (CCO) on 1 April and will therefore be stepping down from her non-executive position on the board on that date.

Baylay said: “Following a thorough and competitive search process, the board is delighted that Rachel is being appointed as chief executive.

“Rachel has already made a significant contribution to Ted Baker, working tirelessly in recent months to develop a transformation plan for the business. She has brought hugely relevant retail and customer experience and is ideally positioned to lead Ted Baker’s turnaround in the future.”

Osborne added: “The time I have spent at Ted Baker has quickly confirmed to me what a special business this is. We have challenges to face in the coming months, not least the significant uncertainty caused by Covid-19, but I am confident that we will succeed through the hard work of our colleagues and the strength of our brand.

 “Over the last few months we have put together a clear plan to transform Ted Baker and ensure its long-term success. I look forward to leading the business through this critical period of change and seeing the benefits of our plan come to fruition.”