Naked Wines appoints former founder as chair, delays FY results
Rowan Gormley’s appointment comes as current chairman David Stead is set to step down from his role and leave the board.
Naked Wines has announced the appointment of founder and former CEO Rowan Gormley as its new chairman.
The wine retailer also announced a delay to the release of its full-year results that were set to be released on 6 July but said it expects FY EBIT to come in at the higher end of previous guidance of £15-£18m.
Gormley’s appointment comes as current chairman David Stead is set to step down from his role and leave the board.
The company said that in order to deliver profitable growth, the group needs to recruit new customers at a higher rate. Having founded Naked Wines in 2008 and built the business to nearly £200m of revenues, it said Gormely is “well placed” to support that goal.
David Stead, outgoing chairman, said: “I am pleased to be handing over the chairmanship of Naked to Rowan as the business develops plans to deliver profitable growth over the long term. In my time with the company, it has more than doubled in scale and, most recently, we have successfully transitioned from a period of exceptional growth during the pandemic, to the current focus on profit and cash. I wish Rowan and all the team at Naked every success.”
Rowan Gormley, incoming chairman, said: “My thanks to David and the team for executing a challenging transition in a turbulent market. With a proven ability to deliver profit we now progress to the next stage, and develop plans to deliver profitable, sustainable growth. I am excited to return to a much larger business that has an exciting future ahead and I look forward to working closely with the reshaped board to deliver on Naked’s full potential.”
In addition, Naked Wines also confirmed the appointment of Jack Pailing to the board, as an independent director.
