Moss Bros appoints sales and marketing director to group board
Troubled menswear retailer Moss Bros has appointed Julie Cook to the newly created position of sales and marketing director. Cook is the final addition to the company’s board of directors, following a management shake-up over the past year which has seen several directors – including the company’s chief executive – replaced.
Cook, who joins from fashion retailer Viyella, is the first marketer to sit on the board of Moss Bros. Marketing was previously the responsibility of Susan Aubrey-Cound, who left the company in February to join Marks & Spencer.
Cook will oversee marketing for the group’s brands, which include Hugo Boss, Cecil Gee, Moss, Canali and Beale & Inman. She will focus on improving marketing, merchandising and customer service.
It is believed she may also restructure the marketing department to create brand management roles for each of the brands.
Moss Bros has replaced the majority of the senior management team that oversaw last year’s unsuccessful move into casualwear. The company reportedly lost &£5m on its casualwear outlet, Code, which launched just as many companies were dropping “dress-down” policies in the workplace.
Moss Bros has since been mooted as a takeover target for several retail entrepreneurs, including Shami Ahmed, the founder of jeans company Joe Bloggs; head of Baird Menswear Harold Tillman; and Kevin Stanford, co-founder of women’s clothing chain Karen Millen.
