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After weeks of public wrangling over its leadership, British brand Revolution Beauty has announced that its CEO Bob Holt and chairman Derek Zissman have agreed to step down. Holt will remain as interim CEO until 31 August.
Fast fashion retailer Boohoo, which is Revolution Beauty’s single largest shareholder with a 26.6 per cent stake, was among the investors who voted in June to remove Holt, Zissman and CFO Elizabeth Lake amid concerns over the company’s 2022 accounts.
Investment in innovative beauty concepts from UK brands is unlikely to be sidetracked by the turmoil at Revolution Beauty, where a boardroom upheaval went very public.
Boohoo proposed instating new directors: Neil Catto, former CFO and executive director at Boohoo Group, and Alistair McGeorge, non-exec chairman of the Original Factory Shop and chair of the board of Retail Trust. However, Revolution Beauty reinstated Holt, Zissman and Lake, leading to a public spat with Boohoo.
Under the settlement, Lake will remain in post and McGeorge will become executive chairman. Catto will join as non-independent non-exec director. Revolution Beauty has also agreed to appoint two new independent non-exec directors: Rachel Horsefield, former CEO of beauty at The Hut Group, and Peter Hallett, former group CFO of British network and cloud managed service provider Redcentric. No direct replacement for Holt has been named.
Revolution Beauty was valued at close to £500 million when it floated on London’s junior stock market AIM in July 2021. The conflict with some of its investors has been a blow to the British beauty sector, which has already faced numerous challenges. However, experts say it is unlikely to have any long-term negative impact on investment in the sector. Shares in Revolution Beauty increased 3.4 per cent following today’s announcement.
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