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Matchesfashion CEO Ajay Kavan exits

By Huw Hughes

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Matchesfashion has announced its chief executive Ajay Kavan has exited the company after just a year in the role.

Kavan, who previously oversaw global initiatives for US retail giant Amazon, joined the London-based fashion retailer as CEO in March 2020, six months after the exit of former chief Ulric Jerome, and would find himself tasked with the tough job of steering the company through the pandemic.

The company did not give a reason why he stepped down.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Ajay for his significant contributions to Matchesfashion over a challenging year, book-ended by the start of Covid lockdown and Brexit,” said Matchesfashionn chair Tom Hall in a statement. “Ajay has reinforced the foundations of the business, significantly strengthened the team and embedded a customer-driven culture. I wish Ajay every success for his future endeavours.”

Matchesfashion seeks new CEO

Kavan said: “I am proud of the team we have built at Matchesfashion. I believe in the potential of the business and the team is focused behind a clear set of goals that will further accelerate growth in the years ahead. I look forward to seeing the business go from strength to strength.”

Maureen Chiquet, a non-executive director on the company’s board since 2018, will act as executive chairwoman during the transition period until a new CEO is named. Chiquet was previously global CEO of Chanel, a position she held until leaving the business in 2016.

Matchesfashion started out with a single shop in Wimbledon over 30 years ago and has since grown into a luxury global e-tailer with an edit of over 600 designers, delivering to over 176 countries.

In January, the company revealed it made a 5.9 million pound pre-Covid loss in 2019, compared to a small profit of 0.8 million pounds the previous year.

Revenue during the year increased 16 percent to 430.5 million pounds, compared to growth of 27 percent in 2018 and 44 percent in 2017.

Adjusted EBITDA was 4.5 million pounds compared to 14.7 million pounds a year earlier.

The company hasn’t yet published figures for how it performed during 2020.

Photo credit: Matchesfashion

Matchesfashion